BEIRUT AND TEHRAN — A sermon by powerful cleric and opposition supporter Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani reignited Iran's simmering protest movement Friday, heartening thousands of supporters who braved tear gas and club-wielding militiamen to march and chant slogans across Tehran.
In a highly anticipated speech, Rafsanjani slammed the hard-line camp supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticized the June 12 election results and promoted several key opposition demands. Analysts said his description of the unrest as an ongoing "crisis" was a signal to keep the pressure on Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His speech, as well as the ensuing pitched clashes between security forces and supporters of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi, suggested that the political firestorm surrounding the marred vote would continue and that the movement it had inspired remained strong.
Reformist websites estimated that more than 1 million people participated. That number could not be confirmed, though even supporters of the hard-line camp who attended the prayer session to show support for Khamenei acknowledged that the crowds were huge.
Rafsanjani told worshipers gathered for Friday prayers in and around Tehran University: "We could have taken our best step in the history of the Islamic Revolution had the election not faced problems. Today, we are living in bitter conditions because of what happened after the announcement of the election result. All of us have suffered. We need unity more than any time else."
Mousavi and his supporters claim that Ahmadinejad, backed by Khamenei, falsified results and stole the election. Khamenei, who is supposed to be above partisan politics, infuriated them by coming down squarely on the side of the incumbent.
Mousavi's backers widely interpreted Rafsanjani's speech as anything but a call for unity. They chanted boisterous anti-government slogans for hours in defiance of menacing security forces and plainclothes Basiji militiamen.
Immediately afterward, Tehran residents could be heard from rooftops and balconies shouting support for Rafsanjani.
"The main goal of Rafsanjani's sermon today was to improve his own position so that he can pressure Khamenei," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iran analyst. "He got large numbers to come to the streets and to listen to him. He showed that he is not a spent force."
