Rafsanjani Sermon Receives Mixed Reviews

The Friday Prayers sermon delivered by Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani has produced mixed reactions within the country's political circles.

The current head of the Expediency Council, who led the Friday Prayers at Tehran University for the first time since the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that the ambiguities surrounding the June 12 vote had broken the Iranian nation's trust in the establishment.

"Doubt has been cast," he said. "There are two groups; one has no doubt and is moving ahead, while the other [group], that is not few in number, says it has doubts. We need to take action to remove this doubt."

Thousands of defiant opposition supporters staged rallies in streets leading to the University campus, shouting slogans in support of the influential cleric. The spontaneous protest held despite a ban on such gatherings was dispersed by riot police.

Rafsanjani went on to emphasize on the importance of the people's will as one of the cornerstones of the Revolution.

"The late Imam always said I want what the people want and you must make every effort to capture their [ the people's] hearts," he said referring to the late the Founder of the Islamic Revolution.

"Even in drawing up the Constitution, Imam Khomeini assigned an important role to the people," he added.

Rafsanjani's focus on popular legitimacy, however, prompted a member of Iran's electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi to criticize the senior cleric.

"In Islam, the legitimacy of a government is granted by God and its acceptance by the people," ISNA news agency quoted Ayatollah Yazdi as saying.

"While without the people's acceptance no Islamic government can function, this does not give the establishment its legitimacy… this important principle has been overlooked by Mr. Hashemi."

Tehran lawmaker Bijan Nobaveh also criticized Rafsanjani for saying that the election dispute had thrown the country into a crisis.

"The so-called crisis is Mr. Rafsanjani's personal interpretation of the situation," Nobaveh said.

Leader of the Association of Teachers and Researchers Ayatollah Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi on the other hand praised the sermon and called on officials to consider Rafsanjani's words of advice.

"By freeing detainees, relaxing media restrictions and condoling with the families of the victims of the unrest, officials can create an atmosphere where the people do not feel they are ruled by a certain group," Ayatollah Mousavi Tabriz said on Saturday.

Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi, a top adviser to defeated Reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi on Saturday described Rafsanjani's comments as having great significance.

"It attracted a large number of people from all walks of life, to prove their presence [on the country's political stage]," he said.

The former mayor of the country's capital, said while the sermon addressed the concerns of "a significant number" of people, it also provided officials with solutions to effectively manage the "crisis".

AR/MT/HGH