TEHRAN, June 20 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian cleric warned Washington on Friday not to treat Iran like Afghanistan or Iraq and urged courts to hand out death penalties to "hooligans" who took part in recent protests against Islamic clerical rule.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sandwiched between Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has come under heavy external and internal pressure in recent weeks, facing pro-democracy protests at home and vocal U.S. accusations it is secretly building nuclear arms and sponsoring terrorism.

Protests against Iran's clerical establishment appeared to have ended on Friday with no reports of demonstrators gathering in the capital for a 10th night despite strong U.S. support for the protesters.

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a member of the Guardian Council constitutional watchdog, warned Washington not to think it could deal with Iran in the same way it had with its two neighbours.

"American leaders' remarks show you have baseless thoughts and dreams about Iran... Don't think Iran is Afghanistan or Iraq that you can enter by force," said Yazdi, whose sermon was broadcast live on state radio.

Yazdi warned U.S. officials not to exaggerate the importance of protests by "a few hooligans".

The Iranian people "if they feel their country and religion is in danger, will come to the scene and fight the enemy until the last drop of their blood," he said as worshippers chanted "Death to America".

"Don't think what I'm saying are mere slogans, this is the reality. Iran is different from Iraq and Afghanistan so don't make decisions based on false reports," he added.

Yazdi, a former judiciary chief, urged courts to deal with those arrested in the recent protests quickly and without mercy.

CORRUPT ON EARTH

"They are rioters, hooligans and they have created insecurity and they are corrupt on earth. The judiciary should confront them as corrupt on earth," he said.

The loose term "corrupt on earth", a charge which has been levelled at political dissidents in the past, carries the death penalty in Iran.

More than 300 people have been arrested in Tehran alone since the protests broke out over a week ago.

U.S. officials have hailed the protests as a cry for freedom leading to accusations of blatant interference from Tehran.

In Tehran on Thursday night riot police and hardline Islamic vigilantes lined the streets in some hot spots and intersections where protests had erupted on previous evenings.

Unlike on most of the previous nine nights, when thousands of would-be protesters crammed into cars blowing their horns and occasionally shouting slogans, traffic flows were normal and there was no sign of tension.

The official IRNA news agency and the student news agency ISNA carried no reports on Friday of protests in other cities.

Analysts said the protesters, who had voiced their anger at both reformist President Mohammad Khatami and the conservative clerics who have blocked his attempts at reform, had been intimidated into ending their protests because of the heavy security presence on the streets.

Despite the apparent fizzling out of the demonstrations, where the number of protesters never exceeded 5,000, analysts say widespread, deep anger with Iran's Islamic rulers remains and protests are likely to break out again in coming weeks.