Iran's parliament called for maximum punishment to opposition demonstrators Tuesday as the regime stepped up its crackdown on dissent arresting the sister of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. She was detained along with dozens of journalists and activists, reports said, after eight people were killed in protests on Sunday. “My sister Dr. Nooshin Ebadi was arrested by four intelligence agents at her home and sent to prison,” Ebadi said in a statement carried by the Rahesabz website. “I am not aware of the place of her detention or the reason for her arrest,” she said, describing her sister as a professor of medicine. Speaker Ali Larijani, in a statement read out on state television, said parliament wants the judiciary and intelligence bodies to arrest those who insult religion and impose the maximum punishment on them without reservation. Parliament also condemned “disgusting comments” by Western governments about Sunday's unrest, after they unanimously denounced the regime's deadly crackdown on protesters. The MPs accused the protesters, who poured onto the streets in fresh anti-government demonstrations, of being “anti-religion” and “counter-revolutionaries.” Iran summoned the British ambassador in Tehran, with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki threatening Britain with a “slap in the face” if it did not stop interfering in Iranian affairs. Britain's Foreign Office said the ambassador would respond “robustly” to any criticism of a statement calling on Tehran to respect the human rights of Iranian citizens.
