Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a top Iranian cleric, addressed the post election turmoil in Friday’s public prayers. Rafsanjani questioned the treatment of protesters and noted the doubts that remain about the legitimacy of the election. These statements challenge the leadership of the Iranian government. That combine with the appearance at the Mousavi helped to spark new protests, and renew hope among protesters.
From the NYT Tehran Losing Iranians’ Trust, Ex-Leader Says
Mr. Rafsanjani, speaking to a vast crowd at Tehran University’s prayer hall, advanced the cause of Iran’s beleaguered opposition, saying doubts about the disputed June 12 election “are now consuming us” and calling for a new spirit of compromise from the government.
“A large group” of Iranians, he said, have doubts about the election. “We should work to address these doubts,” he said.
His appearance emboldened opposition supporters, who asserted themselves more aggressively than they had in weeks. Tens of thousands of people converged around the prayer hall, witnesses said. Police officers beat back large crowds of chanting protesters with tear gas and truncheons. There were reports of at least 15 arrests.
The speech was a turning point for Mr. Rafsanjani, a powerful government insider who previously had operated cautiously and mostly behind the scenes during the worst political unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. It seemed another sign that the hard-line leadership’s repression had not yet extinguished smoldering opposition.
In the audience were several prominent reformists, chief among them Mir Hussein Moussavi, the main opposition candidate, who has claimed that last month’s election was stolen from him. He had not been seen in public for weeks.
