Iran sees Islamic awakening in Middle East

TEHRAN, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A new Islamic world is emerging across the Middle East that shouldn't be disregarded, a senior Iranian cleric said during his sermon for Friday prayers.

Cairo imposed an overnight curfew after military forces were sent into the streets to control anti-government protesters calling on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign after more than 30 years in office. A December revolution on Tunisia brought an end to a regime in place for more than 20 years and Yemeni demonstrators are calling for the end of the decades-old rule of their president.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said during his sermon Friday that the Arab world was in the midst of an Islamic awakening.

"To those who do not see the realities, I clarify that an Islamic Middle East is being created based on Islam, religion and democracy with prevailing religious principals," he was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying.

Iran in 2009 put down a near-revolution in the wake of an election that brought a second term for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian authorities in the aftermath of disputed presidential election arrested nearly 5,000 people. More than 100 activists were executed and opposition groups say at least 80 were killed in custody or in the streets.