Rafsanjani boosts pressure on Iran regime before anniversary
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Opposition sympathiser and powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranian regime ahead of the first anniversary of the disputed presidential election.
 The reappearance of Rafsanjani's comments comes just days before the June 12 anniversary of the presidential poll that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and sparked one of the worst internal crises in the Islamic republic's history.
 Iran was rocked by widespread and deadly street unrest immediately after Ahmadinejad's re-election -- a result his opponents said had been rigged.
 Now Rafsanjani's website has again reproduced the text of his year-old letter to Khamenei in which he warned of social upheaval if the leader remained silent about a remark Ahmadinejad made before the election.
 In a television debate just days before the poll  Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani's family of corruption  prompting the cleric to send his letter of complaint to the supreme leader.
 Addressing Khamenei in such a manner is unheard of in Iran where the supreme leader is the ultimate authority and has the final say on all strategic issues.
 The Rafsanjani website also repeated remarks he made during a Friday prayer sermon last July 17 as the post-election unrest raged  when he openly said the election result had broken the trust of Iranians.
 "What should we do?" Rafsanjani asked rhetorically in the sermon. "Our key issue is to return the trust which the people had and now to some extent is broken.
 "It is not necessary that in this situation people be jailed. Let them join their families. We should not allow enemies to rebuke and ridicule us because of detentions. We should tolerate each other " he said.
 Rafsanjani is a sympathiser of the opposition  especially Mir Hossein Mousavi who was runner-up in the presidential election.
 Meanwhile Rafsanjani's daughter Faezeh  who heads an Islamic federation of female sports  issued a statement denouncing an "attack against her office overnight Friday " the opposition Rahesabz.net website reported.
Opposition sympathiser and [TGT] has ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranian regime ahead of the first anniversary of the disputed presidential election.
 The reappearance of [TGT]'s comments comes just days before the June 12 anniversary of the presidential poll that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and sparked one of the worst internal crises in the Islamic republic's history.
 Iran was rocked by widespread and deadly street unrest immediately after Ahmadinejad's re-election -- a result [TGT] opponents said had been rigged.
 Now [TGT]'s website has again reproduced the text of [TGT] year-old letter to Khamenei in which [TGT] warned of social upheaval if [TGT] remained silent about a remark Ahmadinejad made before the election.
 In a television debate just days before the poll  Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani's family of corruption  prompting the cleric to send [TGT] letter of complaint to the supreme leader.
 Addressing Khamenei in such a manner is unheard of in Iran where the supreme leader is the ultimate authority and has the final say on all strategic issues.
 The Rafsanjani website also repeated remarks he made during a Friday prayer sermon last July 17 as the post-election unrest raged  when he openly said the election result had broken the trust of Iranians.
 "What should we do?" [TGT] asked rhetorically in the sermon. "Our key issue is to return the trust which the people had and now to some extent is broken.
 "It is not necessary that in this situation people be jailed. Let them join their families. We should not allow enemies to rebuke and ridicule us because of detentions. We should tolerate each other " [TGT] said.
 [TGT] is a sympathiser of the opposition  especially Mir Hossein Mousavi who was runner-up in the presidential election.
 Meanwhile [TGT]'s daughter Faezeh  who heads an Islamic federation of female sports  issued a statement denouncing an "attack against her office overnight Friday " the opposition Rahesabz.net website reported.