Tehran, July 17: Opposition supporters and their hard-line rivals are chanting competing slogans at Iran’s main Islamic prayer service Friday, where the opposition seeks to make a show of strength.
Tens of thousands have massed for the prayers, led by the opposition’s top backer in the clerical leadership, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, for the first time since the disputed June 12 election. Pro-reform activists hope he will show support for the movement in his sermon.
Many pro-reform worshippers wore green clothing or had green prayer rugs — the opposition movement’s color. Before the sermon, hard-liners made traditional chants of “death to America,” while opposition supporters countered with “death to Russia” — a reference to government’s ties to Moscow.
–Agencies