Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that the protests seen across central Iran on 14 February are “going nowhere” and he pledges to punish the organisers.

Thousands gathered in Tehran’s Azadi [Freedom] Square on Monday spurred on by recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt (MEED 15:2:11). Two people were killed and several wounded during clashes between protesters and police.

Ahmadinejad later dismissed the protests saying people were trying to undermine a rally held on 11 January to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

“It is clear the Iranian nation has enemies because it is a nation that wants to shine, conquer peaks and change [its international] relations,” Ahmadinejad says. “Of course, there is a lot of hostility against the government, but they knew that they would get nowhere.”

Opposition presidential candidates Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi were put under house arrest to prevent them from attending the protests. The defeat of Moussavi and Karroubi in the 2009 elections triggered weeks of violent protests in Tehran two years ago. The protests drew the largest crowds since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Conservative members of parliament have called for both men to be tried and sentenced to death.

“Karroubi and Moussavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried,” says a statement signed by 221 MPs. “We believe the people have lost their patience and demand capital punishment.”

The charge of “corrupt on earth” has been given to political dissidents before and carries the death penalty.

US President Barack Obama, however, supports the protests in Iran.

“I find it ironic that you’ve got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt when in fact they have acted in direct contrast by gunning down and beating people who are trying to express themselves peacefully,” says Obama.

“And I also think an important lesson … that we can draw from this is real change in these societies is not going to happen because of terrorism. It’s not going to happen because you go around killing innocents,” he adds. “It’s going to happen because people come together and apply moral force to a situation.”