Thousands throng again as Rafsanjani speaks in Tehran (2nd Roundup)

Jul 17, 2009, 14:44 GMT

Supporters of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi shows victory sign during the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on 17 July 2009. Moussavi has accused the government of fraud in the June 12 presidential election. EPA/STR

Tehran - Thousands thronged to Friday prayers in Tehran addressed by former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani as the event rekindled open protest at alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad retain power.

Witnesses said as many as 100,000 opposition supporters took part in the demonstrations in searing heat of 40 degrees-plus, and police used teargas when clashes broke out after the event.

Supporters decked in green, symbolic of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi, swarmed to Tehran University to hear the sermon from Rafsanjani, who called on the government to release those jailed for protesting against the result.

Moussavi took part in the prayers but refrained from taking a front row seat with other political leaders, preferring to stay with his supporters in one of the rear rows.

Witnesses said police made arrests and fired teargas in clashes near the university following the sermon. A tight police cordon in the morning had prevented the majority from reaching the university where Rafsanjani was speaking.

Demonstrators however were not intimidated. Shouting 'Don't be afraid, we are all together' they continued protests both during and, especially, after the prayer ceremony. Several demonstrators were seen by witnesses being arrested.

Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997 and is still a major figure in Iran, said Iran had a crisis and he called on the government and to release all political prisoners.

'Those who have been arrested and detained should be released and we should not allow the enemies of Iran to laugh at us (for detaining our own people),' he said.

Rafsanjani blamed the government for not having sufficient tolerance with 'our own people,' referring to former cabinet members and parliament deputies arrested and detained over their protests against alleged fraud in the June 12 presidential election.

'We are all part of one family and I hope that this Friday prayer will be the start to pass what we unfortunately have to acknowledge as a crisis,' the moderate cleric said.

'In the current situation it is not necessary for us to have a number of people in prisons. We should allow them to return to their families.'

Rafsanjani - who was leading prayers for the first time since the June 12 vote - called for 'open debate' on the disputed election.

Foreign reporters and photographers were prohibited by security forces from attending the prayers or the university site.

'We should not limit the media and ignore their legal rights,' Rafsanjani said, referring to a governmental ban on the foreign press to directly cover protests or contact opposition figures.

The opposition maintains the June 12 vote was unfair and refuses to recognise the result. In violence following the poll, at least 21 people died and hundreds were arrested.

At the beginning of his sermon, Rafsanjani urged his supporters not to chant anti-government slogans in their protest. 'Let us use the occasion to create a better future for our country,' he said.

Nevertheless in the streets around the university, witnesses reported many protestors chanting 'death to the dictator' and 'Ahmadinejad resign, resign.'

Tehran has prohibited street protests since the vote and broke up unofficial gatherings by force.

Witnesses said that many protestors had come with the whole family, and for the most part police made no attempt to confront demonstrators.