“If the system cannot or does not want to confront such ugly and sin-infected phenomena as insults, lies, and false allegations made in that debate, how can we consider ourselves followers of the sacred Islamic system?” Rafsanjani wrote.

No sooner had Rafsanjani’s letter been released than Ahmadinejad’s campaign began copying and distributing it, clearly betting that it would play in the President’s favour to keep Rafsanjani in the spotlight, said Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the President of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue, a research organisation here.

Thousands of Ahmadinejad’s supporters marched through central Tehran on Wednesday morning. Hours later, a larger throng of supporters of the leading challenger, Mir Hussein Moussavi, rallied in the capital, with tens of thousands of people bearing the signature green headbands, ribbons and caps of his campaign.

Although the rallies have been mostly peaceful, the enormous street presence by Moussavi’s supporters has clearly rattled some in the Government. On Wednesday, a senior official of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused the Moussavi campaign of trying to start a “velvet revolution”, according to comments published on the Guards’ website.

In his letter, Rafsanjani noted that Ayatollah Khamenei had “deemed it best to remain silent” instead of censuring the President for his vitriolic attacks during the debate. Rafsanjani said he wrote the letter only after the rejection of his demands for an apology and for an opportunity to rebut the charges on state television.

Khamenei is unlikely to respond because “he is not pleased with correspondence like this from anyone”, Abtahi said.

... contd.