TEHRAN, Iran — One of Iran’s top clerics criticized hard-liners at the main Islamic prayers Friday, saying the clerical leadership must clear up doubts over the disputed presidential election and should release opposition supporters arrested in the postelection crackdown.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who sits on two powerful clerical ruling bodies, made the comments during his sermon before tens of thousands of opposition supporters, with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi sitting in the front row.
The opposition packed the prayer hall to make a show of strength at the weekly Islamic prayers, which broadcast live on radio and are one of Iran’s most important and symbolic political platforms. It was Rafsanjani’s first time delivering the sermon since the June 12 election. In recent weeks, hard-line clerics have been using the sermon to tell Iranians to fall in line behind Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and accept the election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
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Updates:
8:38 am EDT, July 17th, 2009 — Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s nuclear programme, quits
8:45 am EDT, July 17th, 2009 — Iran: tear gas and batons used on opposition supporters