Women and boys were raped in custody, opposition leader says

Tehran: An Iranian opposition leader has claimed that women and boys detained over the wave of unrest that swept the nation after the disputed presidential election were savagely raped in custody.

The allegations by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi surfaced as Iran hit back at Western criticism of its mass trials of protesters, including British and French embassy staff.

"A number of detainees have said that some female detainees have been raped savagely.

"Young boys held in detention have also been savagely raped," Karroubi said in a letter to powerful cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

"The young boys are suffering from depression and serious physical and mental damage since their rapes," he said, urging an inquiry into the claims.

Karroubi made the allegations in a letter to Rafsanjani in his capacity as head of the Assembly of Experts, the powerful body which selects the supreme leader and supervises his activities.

Karroubi, a reformist former parliamentary speaker who came a distant fourth in the June 12 election that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, has previously alleged that protesters were abused and beaten in custody.

About 2,000 opposition supporters were arrested in the aftermath of Ahmad-inejad's disputed victory. Most have been released, but around 200 remain behind bars. At least 110 have also been put on trial.

Karroubi urged Rafsanjani to take up the issue with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying the "clergy and the Islamic republic will be held responsible" for such acts, according to a copy of the letter obtained by AFP.

"The veracity of the letter's contents have to be ascertained," ISNA news agency quoted current parliament speaker Ali Larijani as saying.

"I am also awaiting the report of our parliamentary panel which is probing the issue of detainees."

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad has fired at least four senior Intelligence Ministry figures in a purge targeting officials who disagreed with the crackdown on the opposition after last month's disputed election, lawmakers and media said yesterday.

The dismissals came after Ahmadinejad fired his intelligence minister, Gholam Hussain Mohseni Ejehi, late last month and marked a strengthening of the president's hold on the powerful ministry. Ahmadinejad has served as temporary caretaker of the ministry pending the formation of his new government, expected within days.

Ahmad Avai, a conservative lawmaker, accused Ahmadinejad of "settling scores" against officials he considers sufficiently loyal. Avai was quoted in several Iranian newspapers yesterday saying parliament was considering a probe into the dismissals.

In the purge, four deputy intelligence ministers were removed because they didn't support the government's claims of a "velvet revolution" plot, Hasan Younesi, son of former intelligence minister Ali Younesi, said in a statement on his personal web site.

"Ahmadinejad has effectively taken command of the most country's most important security body and is settling scores," Hasan Younesi said.

Several news websites, including one close to conservatives, Khabaronline, also reported the dismissals.