Iran’s Rafsanjani Challenges Post-Election Crackdown : Via Bloomberg.com.

uly 17 (Bloomberg) -- Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani challenged the government’s crackdown on protests over the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, urging respect for the opposition and the release of detainees.

“There is no need for force, if military, security and intelligence forces allow,” Rafsanjani, a former president who heads the country’s influential Assembly of Experts, said during a nationally broadcast Friday prayers sermon at Tehran University. “We are all part of one family.”

His audience included former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, state-run Press TV said. Mousavi, whose election bid was backed indirectly by Rafsanjani, is among opposition candidates who have said the June 12 vote was rigged. Ahmadinejad, whose re-election was endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has denied the charge.
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