Iran opposition leader to attend Friday prayers

Defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi attends a rally in support of him in Tehran June 15, 2009.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi plans to attend Friday prayers this week in his first official public appearance since a disputed election that provoked mass protests by his supporters last month.

A statement on his website confirmed reports the defeated candidate would be present at the weekly prayers at Tehran University to be led by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a rival of re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Clearly reflecting concern the event may turn into a show of strength by Ahmadinejad's pro-reform opponents, Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei told Fars News Agency:

"The vigilant Iranian nation must be aware that tomorrow's sermon should not turn to an arena for undesirable scenes."

Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's main challenger in the June 12 vote, says it was rigged in the hardline incumbent's favor.

The election further strained ties between Iran and the West, already at odds over Tehran's disputed nuclear ambitions. Western powers criticized the protest crackdown and Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, accused them of meddling.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday Iran's intentions were unclear following the vote and that President Barack Obama's offer of talks with Tehran over its nuclear program was not open-ended.

A reformist newspaper, Etemad, said Mousavi had voiced continued defiance in a meeting on Tuesday with the family of 19-year-old Sohrab Aarabi, who human rights activists say was killed during demonstrations after the vote.

State media say at least 20 people were killed during clashes between protesters and riot police backed by the Basij religious militia. Some rights activists say the death toll was higher. The authorities and Mousavi blame each other for the bloodshed.

The authorities reject charges of vote fraud, but the election and its turbulent aftermath also exposed deepening divisions within the Islamic Republic's leadership.

Mousavi has said he will join a planned group of leading figures to follow up people's rights and "ignored" votes.

"God willing, we will all move forward in the way that we have chosen...This is an irreversible path," Mousavi told Aarabi's mother, Etemad reported.

Mousavi, who was accompanied by his wife Zahra Rahnavard, said he would not allow the teenager's "blood to be trampled" and vowed to follow up his case, Etemad said.

"REFORMERS' TURN"

Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, upheld Ahmadinejad's landslide win in his Friday sermon one week after the election.

But Mousavi, who was prime minister in the 1980s, has said Ahmadinejad's next government would be illegitimate.

Rafsanjani, an influential cleric who backed Mousavi's election campaign, will lead the prayers after a two-month absence. Some of his relatives, including his daughter Faezeh, were arrested briefly for taking part in pro-Mousavi rallies.

On Tuesday, Etemad said both Mousavi and his reformist ally, former President Mohammad Khatami, would attend the prayers, which are broadcast live to a potentially huge audience.

"Since I regard as obligatory responding to the invitation of the sympathizers and supporters in the path of safeguarding legitimate rights of a free and honorable life, I will maintain a presence alongside you on Friday," Mousavi's statement said.

Anoush Ehteshami, an Iran expert at Britain's Durham University, said he did not expect Rafsanjani to stir any great controversy during his sermon.

"I doubt he can stand there and say, all right, go back on the streets to protest against the election result," he said. "But nor can he ignore a reference to the election outcome. That would be totally discrediting to his standing."

Ahmadinejad was not likely to attend, Ehteshami said: "This is, if you like, the reformers' turn at the Friday prayer."

Editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari of the hardline Kayhan daily said some pro-Mousavi media saw the sermon as a chance for the losing candidate's supporters to demonstrate against the election result and to chant slogans "dictated from abroad."

But Shariatmadari said he expected Rafsanjani to "clearly and openly take position against the rioters and condemn their illegal acts." The same editor, who is close to Iran's leadership, earlier this month said Mousavi should go on trial.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Lyon in Beirut; Editing by Angus MacSwan)