The mullahs disagree in Iran...

There's a huge split in within the mullahs....

IRAN moved a step closer to prolonged civil strife yester day when the government rejected a compromise offered by a key figure of the regime to settle the dispute over last month's election.

The deal was offered byformer President Hashemi Rafsanjani, a prominent mullah-cum-businessman and one of the founders of the Islamic Republic. In his proposal, the dispute over the presidential results would be referred to the Supreme Court for final judgment, while the opposition would stop daily skirmishes between its supporters and security agents. The government would then release the 5,000 or so people arrested since the dispute broke out June 13 and publish the full list of those killed in the insurrection.

The authorities would also lift the ban on dozens of newspapers and magazines closed down for their opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election.

Rafsanjani offered the formula at the Friday mass prayer congregation on the campus of Tehran University. This was the first time in 10 weeks that he appearred at the ceremony. And all three key figures of the regime's loyal opposition -- former President Muhammad Khatami, and defeated presidential candidates Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi -- were present in a show of unity.

In his sermon, Rafsanjani went out of his way to reassure "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei that the opposition movement isn't seeking regime change. Instead, he directed his attacks against Ahmadinejad (whom he did not mention by name) as a power-hungry individual prepared to provoke a civil war to remain in power.

Twelve hours earlier, however, in a speech in Mashad, Ahmadinejad had rejected Rafsanjani's peace offer as a "trick by those who have plundered the nation's wealth," promising to deal with them and "other enemies of Islam" with even greater vigor.

Ahmadinejad had flown to Mashad to avoid participating at the campus congregation led by Rafsanjani. All members of his Cabinet, his advisers and most of other senior government officials also boycotted the ceremony -- highlighting deep divisions within the Khomeinist establishment.