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Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives at the International Conference of the Prosecutors of Islamic Countries in Tehran where he denounced Israel - Source: Reuters -
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One of Iran's most senior politicians accused President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad of lying in a televised presidential election debate
and called on the country's supreme leader to intervene.
In an unprecedented public attack, former president Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani said tens of millions of Iranians had witnessed
"mis-statements and fabrications" in the debate last week, when
Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani of corruption.
Ahmadinejad also said in the debate Rafsanjani was part of a
political alliance supporting the main challenger, Mirhossein
Mousavi, and seeking to prevent his re-election on Friday.
"I am expecting you to resolve this position in order to extinguish
the fire, whose smoke can be seen in the atmosphere, and to foil
dangerous plots," Rafsanjani said in a letter to Khamenei,
published by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The election campaign has been marked by fierce public debate
between Ahmadinejad and his moderate opponents, and nightly
demonstrations by rival supporters on Tehran's streets.
Rafsanjani's intervention is likely to raise tensions
further.
"Even if I continue to tolerate this situation, there is no doubt
that some people, parties and factions will not tolerate this
situation," Rafsanjani said, hinting that supporters of
Ahmadinejad's rivals could take matters into their own
hands.
Clerics criticise president
Fourteen high-ranking clerics from the holy Shiite city of Qom
echoed Rafsanjani's remarks, expressing "deep concern and regret"
that Iran's image had been harmed in the debate.
"Accusing those who were not present at that debate and could
not defend themselves is against our religion," they said in a
statement also published by Mehr.
Ahmadinejad faces three rival candidates, who have accused him of
lying about the state of Iran's economy, while he says his moderate
challengers have used their positions to enrich themselves.
Speaking in the northern town of Sarri on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said
that for months his opponents had waged "a planned psychological
war against the revolution.
They are lying and accusing the servant of this nation."
The most liberal of Ahmadinejad's opponents, Mehdi Karoubi, said he
would defy growing calls to stand aside and unify moderate voters
behind Mousavi.
Mousavi's supporters say Karoubi can win the backing of no more
than three million of the 46 million eligible voters, and have put
pressure on the former parliamentary speaker to pull out.
"I will never withdraw," he told a news conference. "I believe the
larger the number of candidates, the better."
But an ally said Karoubi was likely to face continued pressure to
stand down to avoid splitting the pro-reform vote.
Like Karoubi, Mousavi accuses Ahmadinejad of isolating Iran with
his vitriolic attacks on the United States, his combative line on
Iran's nuclear policy and his denial of the Holocaust.
Mousavi advocates easing nuclear tensions, while rejecting demands
that Tehran halt nuclear work which the West fears could be used to
make bombs.
Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, says its nuclear
programme is peaceful.
Friday's election will not change Tehran's nuclear policy, which is
decided by Khamenei, but a victory for Mousavi could herald a less
confrontational relationship with the West.
The United Nations has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran over
its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, steps which Ahmadinejad
has repeatedly brushed aside.
On Tuesday night thousands of Mousavi supporters, dressed in his
green campaign colours, brought traffic to a standstill on the
streets of relatively affluent north Tehran.
Many drove in cars plastered with Mousavi posters, or rode standing
on motorbikes waving huge Iranian flags.
Mousavi's campaign has been gaining momentum, but analysts caution
against predicting the outcome. The relatively unknown Ahmadinejad
unexpectedly won the presidency in 2005.
Despite criticism that his free-spending policies have fuelled
inflation and squandered oil revenues, he still has the backing of
Khamenei, who has millions of loyalists.
Mousavi will count on the support of those Iranians, particularly
younger voters, who are disenchanted with Ahmadinejad's efforts to
steer the country back to the Islamist austerity of the 1979
revolution.
