Serious Disagreements in Iran's Clerical Class over Election

Despite Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's assertion that the June 12 presidential election results were valid, other members of the clerical leadership are beginning to call for new elections.

Top moderate clerics, including former president Ali Rafsanjani, have defied the will of the Guardian Council, which certified the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rafsanjani is the head of the Assembly of Experts, a sort of clerical government watchdog group which has the power to remove the Supreme Leader from office.

Meanwhile, ultra-conservative clerics are calling for the trial and possible execution of pro-reform protesters, hundreds of whom have been arrested in recent weeks.

Photo of former president Rafsanjani by Wathiq Khuzaie / Getty Images.