A political party affiliated with Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the former president and key member of the Iranian regime, yesterday 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.

His comments suggest that some in the opposition are looking at future strategies as they seek to capitalise on an extraordinarily passionate street movement but realise the regime is determined not to respond to protesters' demands for an annulment of the results of the June 12 presidential poll, which declared Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad the winner.