Ahmadinejad opponents to attend weekly Iran prayers

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi plans to attend weekly prayers in Tehran on Friday in his first official public appearance since a disputed vote that provoked mass protests by his pro-reform supporters last month.

The sermon at Tehran University, which is broadcast live by state radio and can reach a huge audience, will be led by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a rival of re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It takes place a day after Ahmadinejad accused Western powers of interfering in the June 12 election. He signaled a tougher foreign policy approach by his next government, due to take office in August.

Ahmadinejad also issued veiled criticism of Rafsanjani, a Mousavi supporter whom the hardline president enraged during a bitterly fought election campaign by accusing him of corruption.

"Nobody has the right to recognize special rights or incentives for himself or his relatives," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Thursday evening.

Rafsanjani, an influential cleric who was president in the 1990s, 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.

June's election stirred the most striking display of internal dissent in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution and exposed deepening divisions in its establishment.

At least 20 people died in post-election violence. Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. The security forces have managed to largely quell last month's street demonstrations, but Mousavi has remained defiant.