Iran's reformist leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has said in a statement that he was "ready to die," for reforms, Al Jazeera said on Friday.
"I am not afraid to die for people's demands," he said in a statement, published on the Kaleme website on Friday.
Mousavi's remarks come after a number of rallies were held in support of the government on Wednesday, with some demonstrators calling for execution of opposition leaders. In addition, a previously unknown hard-line group had posted an online statement claiming that opposition leaders would be assassinated by suicide squads if they are not prosecuted by the state within a week.
The Intelligence Ministry of Iran also said in a statement on Thursday that "it will take the necessary steps to deal with those who incite riots and violence in the country," the Press TV has said.
According to the payvand.com website, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had earlier released a statement, in which it called the protests "conspiracy and disturbance" and said its organizers "must sooner or later pay the price of insulting the holy beliefs of the Iranian nation."
Several prominent supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in parliament and other structures also called for arrest and prosecution of opposition leaders, the website said.
In his statement, Mousavi also said the country was in "a serious crisis," and offered his solution to it, which included amendments to the country's election law and the release of political prisoners.
Iran has been in political turmoil since anti-government demonstrations that followed presidential elections in June. The opposition, led by defeated candidate Mousavi, lost the elections and claimed the polls had been rigged in favor of Iran's hard-line leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In the latest major unrest in the Iranian capital, which took place on Sunday, at least seven people were officially confirmed dead, with opposition saying the death toll was higher. Mousavi's nephew was among the dead.
MOSCOW, January 1 (RIA Novosti)
