A political party affiliated with Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the former president and key member of the Iranian regime, on Sunday called on Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the opposition leader, to form a “political bloc” that would pursue a long-term campaign to undermine the “illegitimate” government. Hossein Marashi, spokesman for the Kargozaran, stayed clear of directly challenging the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but told the Financial Times in a telephone interview that Mr Moussavi was now the leader of an opposition that was not without options.

“With the lack of legitimacy of the Ahmadi-Nejad government, sooner or later the country’s management will face various crises,” he said. “Mr Moussavi should set up an official political front which can embrace the defenders of the real Islamic republic . . . against those who are distorting it and are represented by Mr Ahmadi-Nejad.”

Adding to the tension, footage on the Facebook networking site showed a young woman supporter of Mr Moussavi being shot in the chest during the Saturday protests. The graphic footage, which was widely viewed, showed the woman dying in front of her father who desperately tried to save her.

A camp of pragmatic clerics and politicians led by Rafsanjani, while loyal to the revolution's principles, wants to build better ties with the West and a more friendly image of Iran."What is clear is that the leadership is far more polarized and splintered than has been clear in the past," said Anthony Cordesman, a former Pentagon analyst with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Now that the leader has made clear he was supportive of Ahmadinejad and sharing the same vision of the future of the Islamic Republic, it can be taken as a major defeat for Rafsanjani and for the political options he promotes," said Frederic Tellier, an Iran expert in the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank.

Rafsanjani was president between 1989 and 1997, but failed to win a third term when in 2005, losing to Ahmadinejad in a runoff. He was a close follower of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic Revolution. He now heads the Expediency Council, a body that arbitrates disputes between parliament and the unelected Guardian Council, which can block legislation.He also is the head of the powerful Assembly of Experts, which comprises senior clerics who can elect and dismiss the country's supreme leader.

A daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been released from detention, state television said on Monday. Iran's English-language Press TV had reported that Faezeh Rafsanjani and four other relatives of the former president were detained during an unauthorized protest in Tehran on Saturday. The four other relatives were freed earlier.

Last week, the semi-official Fars News Agency said Faezeh and her brother Mehdi had been barred from leaving Iran.

According to a report in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Rafsanjani is contemplating the formation of a distinct body of clerics that would serve as an alternative to the ruling council of ayatollahs. The report stated that the former president, who is based in the town of Qom, which is thought of as a religious stronghold, has already consulted other prominent clerics on possible future steps against his chief rival, Khamenei.

"Spreading anarchy and vandalism by Western powers and also Western media...these are not at all accepted," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference in comments translated by Iran's English-language Press TV. "In many European countries and also in America, instead of inviting people to resort to democratic mechanisms...they support parts of the rioters," he said. Advertisement Asked whether expelling some foreign ambassadors was an option, Qashqavi said he would neither confirm nor deny this as Iran was still studying possible action.

He also said Iranian diplomatic missions had been damaged during election-related protests in other countries, including Germany. "We don't think that anybody would be able to attack a diplomatic center without the government and local police being informed," he said.

The European Union said Sunday that Iran has summoned diplomats from EU member countries to protest what it says is interference in its internal affairs.

Israel - which hopefully is refraining from excessive meddling in the events - has something to gain from each of the scenarios. If conservative rule prevails it will be at the price of a brutal suppression of the protests. The international community, which over the years has developed a disturbing apathy toward Iranian threats to annihilate Israel, is much more concerned about the crushing of democracy in Tehran. This trampling of democracy may bring about a much harsher approach by the United States and European Union if the dialogue over the Iranian nuclear program fails and the sanctions are intensified.

The limits of intelligence. It's not much of a surprise, but what's happening in Iran, from the election results to the enormous protests, is a stark reminder of the limits of intelligence. We might even assume that the CIA is getting more information on the events from CNN (constrained as it is by the Iranian authorities), the blogosphere and Twitter, than from its agents deep in the land of the ayatollahs. Western intelligence has been focusing on the nuclear program a lot more than the Iranian regime's stability.

One of this week's big questions was why intelligence organizations didn't predict what was about to happen. But the events in Iran have taken the world by surprise, and one wonders if even Iranian intelligence had any idea what was about to unfold. Unlike counting tanks and centrifuges, less "physical" processes like leaders' intentions, election results and nations' willingness to rebel against oppressive regimes are much more difficult to predict.

Peaceful relations between Israel and Iran would be possible if new leadership took power in Tehran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with a German newspaper. "There is no conflict between the Iranian people and the people of Israel and under a different regime the friendly relations that prevailed in the past could be restored," Netanyahu told German daily Bild.

Netanyahu said he had "no doubts" that Iran's citizens would choose a different government if allowed to vote freely. "What we have seen in Iran is a powerful desire on the part of the Iranian people to be free," he said.

He said Israel shared the view of other governments around the world that the Palestinians should be allowed to live peacefully and freely alongside Israel. "What hasn't been expressed clearly enough was the consensus that exists on the Israeli side and that has characterized successive governments," he said. "We want to live peacefully next to the Palestinians and we don't want to govern them. We want them to have all the powers to govern themselves -except those handful of powers that could threaten Israel." But he reiterated there were conditions to Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state, including that such a state be demilitarized and that it recognise Israel as a nation. "We don't want to have another Iran next to our borders," Netanyahu said.

Western powers are seeking to undermine Iran by spreading "anarchy and vandalism", the foreign ministry says.A spokesman said foreign media were "mouthpieces" of enemy governments seeking Iran's disintegration.

The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, who is in Tehran, says this crisis has highlighted divisions within Iran's ruling elite.

At least 10 people were reported to have been killed in clashes between protesters and police and militia forces on Saturday.

The U.S. is moving ground-to-air missile defenses to Hawaii as tensions escalate between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea's recent moves to restart its nuclear-weapon program and resume test-firing long-range missiles.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that the U.S. is concerned that Pyongyang might soon fire a missile toward Hawaii. Some senior U.S. officials expect a North Korean test by midsummer, even though most don't believe the missile would be capable of crossing the Pacific and reaching Hawaii.

Mr. Gates told reporters that the U.S. is positioning a sophisticated floating radar array in the ocean around Hawaii to track an incoming missile. The U.S. is also deploying missile-defense weapons to Hawaii that would theoretically be capable of shooting down a North Korean missile

Barack Obama, the US president, has told Iran "the world is watching" its actions after the country's supreme leader demanded an end to street protests over recent elections. Obama made the comments to CBS news on Friday as both houses of the US congress voted in favour of a resolution to condemn Iran for its crackdown on protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.

The US House of Representatives voted 405-1 to condemn Iran's crackdown on protests following its disputed presidential elections, in a resolution later approved by the senate. The policy statement expressed support for "all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law" and affirms "the importance of democratic and fair elections". It also condemns "the ongoing violence" by the government and pro-government militias against demonstrators, as well as government "suppression of independent electronic communications through interference with the internet and cell phones". The move was welcomed by the White House on Friday.

Amnesty International, the UK-based human rights group, said on Friday that it believed 15 people had been killed as the protests spilled over into violence, compared with just seven deaths reported on Iranian state radio.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday that he believed the U.S. and Israel will resolve their differences over Jewish settlements, and accused the Palestinians of using the issue to avoid peace talks.

"The settlements are not an obstacle to advancing peace," Lieberman said on Friday. "In the 19 years before 1967, there were no settlements but there was terror. During the disengagement, Israel evacuated 24 settlements and in response got Hamas rule in Gaza and rockets on Sderot." Advertisement "It's very clear that ... the settlements ... [are] an excuse for those that tried to avoid any peace talks," he said.

Ban, meanwhile, stressed that settlement construction must end and warned of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Tension was growing in the Pacific today as the US navy prepared to intercept a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weapons in defiance of a United Nations ban.

The US navy has been tracking the Kang Nam since it left a North Korean port on Wednesday.

It would be the first ship to be intercepted since the UN last week imposed sanctions on North Korea as punishment for conducting an underground nuclear test last month. The sanctions ban the import and export of nuclear material, missiles and all other weapons other than small arms.

A key rally against Iran's presidential elections will go ahead on Saturday - in defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei - opposition sources say.

The wife of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and an aide to another rival candidate Mehdi Karroubi, said the rally would go ahead.

Abbas Mohtaj - head of Iran's State Security Council and also deputy interior minister - issued a direct warning to Mr Mousavi. "Should you provoke and call for these illegal rallies you will be responsible for the consequences," he said in a statement.

Egypt has engaged in a process of reform that is succeeding in providing greater opportunities for our youth, more empowerment for women, as well as greater pluralism and internal debate. We openly acknowledge that this process still has a way to go in fulfilling our aspirations.

Among the host of challenges before us, it is the Palestinian issue that requires the greatest urgency, given the precarious state of the peace process after years of stalemate. President Obama has shown a willingness to lead to achieve peace in the Middle East; the Arab world must reciprocate with forthright leadership of its own.

Despite the setbacks of the last few years, it is important to remember that many of the elements of a solution have already been negotiated. After nearly two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations since the initiation of the Oslo peace process, many of the details of a final settlement are well known. Furthermore, the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted at the Beirut summit of 2002, provides a regional framework for such a settlement. For the first time in the history of the conflict, the Arab states unanimously committed to full normalization and security for Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal to the 1967 lines and a negotiated resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue.

President Barack Obama's "reassertion" of U.S. leadership in the Middle East offers a rare opportunity to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said.

"A historic settlement is within reach, one that would give the Palestinians their state and freedom from occupation while granting Israel recognition and security to live in peace," wrote Mubarak. Advertisement "Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same," he added.

Egypt has been trying to broker a power-sharing deal between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and Hamas and Mubarak said the Palestinians must overcome their divisions to achieve their aspirations for statehood.

Speaking in front of an audience of tens of thousands, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Khamenei attacked foreign powers for conspiring to deligitimise the vote, and to destroy the Iranian people's trust in their political leaders. Khamenei's descripton of Britain as the "most treacherous" of Iran's enemies was met by roars of "Death to the UK" from the massed ranks of Basiji militiamen assembled in the prayer hall.

In repsonse, Iran's ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign Office this morning to explain why Britain had been singled out.

Mousavi was conspicuous by his absence from Friday prayers at Tehran University, where Khamenei was making his first public appearance since controversially endorsing Ahmadinejad's election as president.

"The result of the election comes from the ballot box, not from the street," he told tens of thousands of worshippers who had gathered in and around Tehran University for Friday prayers. "Today the Iranian nation needs calm." He said Iran's enemies were targeting the legitimacy of the Islamic establishment by disputing the outcome of the election.

A group of clerics and citizens left the holy city of Qom for a 150 km (100 mile) walk to Tehran in a show of support for Khamenei, state radio and television reported.

Iranian state media has reported seven or eight people killed in protests since the election results were published on June 13.

"If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible," Khamenei declared in his first address to the nation since the upheaval began. "The result of the election comes from the ballot box, not from the street," the white-bearded cleric told huge crowds thronging Tehran University and surrounding streets for Friday prayers. "Today the Iranian nation needs calm." He said any election complaints should be raised through legal channels. "I will not succumb to illegal innovation," he said, in an apparent reference to the street protests, which have few precedents in the Islamic Republic's 30-year history.

"It's a wrong impression that by using street protests as a pressure tool, they can compel officials to accept their illegal demands. This would be the start of a dictatorship," Khamenei said.

"American officials' remarks about human rights and limitations on people are not acceptable because they have no idea about human rights after what they have done in Afghanistan and Iraq and other parts of the world. We do not need advice on human rights from them," he said.

"If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible," Khamenei declared in his first address to the nation since the upheaval began.

"The result of the election comes from the ballot box, not from the street," the white-bearded cleric told huge crowds thronging Tehran University and surrounding streets for Friday prayers. "Today the Iranian nation needs calm."

He said any election complaints should be raised through legal channels. "I will not succumb to illegal innovation," he said, in an apparent reference to the street protests, which have few precedents in the Islamic Republic's 30-year history.

"Since of the beginning of the Islamic revolution, thirty years ago ... various incidents [occurred], some of which could have toppled the establishment, which could have brought turmoil to the nation, as you have seen in other nations. "But in this nation which is moving firmly ... this ship did not find any agitation in stormy sea.

Khamenei said that the "great accomplishment" of the 85 per cent turnout at the presidential poll on June 12 conveyed the legitimacy of the country's leadership and "people's solidarity with their establishment."

"If people do not feel free they will not attend the voting stations, trusting the Islamic establishment was evident in this vote."

The office of the president is generally seen as more powerful today than when it was established three decades ago. In the early years of the Islamic Republic, presidential powers were limited, with the regime's constitutional framers taking care not to give the office excessive strength for fear of a possible coup.

In an interview with CFR.org, Milani said Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was an effective president due to his personal relationships and political charisma, a dynamic that was lost in 1997 with the election of Mohammad Khatami. "Khatami didn't have that kind of relationship with the Supreme Leader" that Rafsanjani did

After the elimination of the post of prime minister in 1989, executive duties were consolidated in the office of the presidency.