TEHRAN — A group of reformist clerics in Iran founded by former president Mohammad Khatami called on Monday for a referendum over the election process following last month's bitterly disputed presidential race.
"As millions of Iranians have lost confidence in the electoral process, the Association of Combatant Clerics insist on the organisation of a referendum... by independent bodies," it said in a statement.
It did not specify what question should be put to voters and under the Iranian constitution only the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can organise a referendum.
The clerical body also said it supported powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who made a hardhitting address on Friday criticising last month's election and the subsequent crackdown on the opposition.
Rafsanjani said the June 12 vote which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power had broken the trust of the people, and called for the release of hundreds of people detained in the unrest unleashed after the election.
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