Iran's candidate says Ahmadinejad humiliated Iranians

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN, June 3 (Reuters) - The leading moderate candidate in Iran's upcoming presidential election accused on Wednesday hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of humiliating the Iranian nation by adopting "extremist" foreign policy.

In a live debate on state television between the main candidates in the June presidential vote, former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi said Iranian's dignity had been damaged since Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005.

The streets in the capital Tehran were largely deserted as millions of Iranians watched the debate, the first in the country's history since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

"The Iranians have been humiliated around the globe since you have been elected. I truly feel sorry for them," Mousavi said.

Ahmadinejad's critics, including reformists and even some fellow conservative, say his fiery anti-Western speeches and his questioning of the Holocaust have isolated Iran, which is at odds with the West over its disputed nuclear work.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for electricity generation, but a number of Western countries believe the aim is to build nuclear weapons.

Mousavi has said he would continue talks with major powers on the nuclear issue if he is elected president, in contrast to Ahmadinejad, who has ruled out any nuclear talks with the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain.

Mousavi also criticised Ahmadinejad's questioning of the Holocaust.