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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html
Leading Clerics Defy Supreme Leader on Disputed Iran Election
[New York Times] Michael Slackman and Nazila Fathi - The most important group of religious leaders in Iran, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum, called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the most public sign of a major split in the country's clerical establishment. "This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Mousavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic," said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. "Remember, they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei."