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Last Updated: Aug 11, 2009 - 8:20:16 PM |
TEHRAN (Reuters) – One of Iran's most senior politicians accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday of lying in a televised presidential election debate and called on the country's supreme leader to take action.
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 to take action," Rafsanjani said in a letter to Khamenei, published by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The election campaign has already been marked by fierce public debate between Ahmadinejad and his moderate rivals, but 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 CRITICIZE PRESIDENT
Fourteen high-ranking clerics from the holy Shi'ite 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 has accused his moderate challengers of using their positions to enrich themselves.
The most liberal of Ahmadinejad's opponents, Mehdi Karoubi, said on Tuesday he would defy growing calls to stand aside and unify moderate voters behind Mousavi.
Mousavi's supporters say Karoubi cannot win the backing of more than 3 million of the 46 million eligible voters, and have pressured 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 in the next few days in order 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.
He 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 program is peaceful.
Friday's election will not change Tehran's nuclear policy, which is decided by Khamenei, but a victory for Mousavi could pave the way to 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.
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 fueled inflation and squandered oil revenues, he still has the backing of Khamenei, who has millions of loyalists.
Mousavi will count on support of Iranians, particularly younger voters, disenchanted with Ahmadinejad's efforts to steer the country back to the Islamist austerity of the 1979 revolution.
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