TEHRAN, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The leaders of the Iranian opposition movement must be considered the enemies of God and face execution under national law, a conservative leader said.

The conservative regime on Wednesday sponsored its own pro-government demonstrations, busing in thousands of supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to take part in the rallies.


The demonstrations followed deadly clashes between supporters of the opposition Green Movement and government security forces during weekend celebrations for the Shiite holy day of Ashura.

Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, a representative to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said the leaders of the opposition were "mohareb," or enemies of God, who should be sentenced to death, al-Jazeera reports.

"Those who are behind the current sedition in the country ... are mohareb and the law is very clear about punishment of a mohareb," he said.

Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, a reformist former member of the Iranian Parliament, told al-Jazeera the political unrest in Iran threatens to divide the clerical regime.

Haghighatjoo, now a women's rights advocate in Massachusetts, said the regime in Tehran has lost control of national events.

"They think that if they could use more violence, they can stop the movement," she said. "If this strategy continues I think we could see the collapse of the government."