Iran protesters clash with police
Updated on 17 July 2009
Tear gas and batons are used to disperse demonstrators at Friday prayers in Tehran as reformist cleric Rafsanjani says Iran is in "crisis".
Nearly 15,000 gathered at the sermon in support of Mir-Hossein Mousavi who was defeated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the country's presidential election last month.
Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who backs Mousavi, took the podium for Friday prayers for the first time in eight weeks.
Rafsanjani called for the immediate release of detained protesters and said that something must be done to remove the doubt surrounding the election outcome.
The influential cleric also called for media freedom in the framework of the law. Rights activists say many journalists are among those held after the June 12 election, which sparked mass opposition protests, and that many pro-reform websites have been closed down.
Witnesses said at least 15 people had been detained by police during the gathering as tear gas and batons were used to disperse the crowd as sporadic clashes erupted outside the Tehran university campus between rival supporters.
Mousavi, a former prime minister, attended the ceremony in his first official public appearance since the vote, which he says was rigged. The authorities deny any fraud.
Earlier the crowd inside the hall could be heard on live state radio chanting "Mousavi, Mousavi, we support you", interrupting Rafsanjani's sermon.
The chants died away after he quietened the crowd, urging them "not to contaminate the position and the sanctuary of Friday prayers by comments and slogans".
June's election stirred the most striking display of internal dissent in the oil-producing country since the 1979 Islamic revolution and exposed deepening divisions in its establishment.
At least 20 people died in post-election violence. Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. The security forces have managed to largely quell last month's street demonstrations, but Mousavi has remained defiant.
