IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday sought to put the turmoil over the disputed presidential elections behind him and declared on national television that the contests were clean, fair and marked the start of a new era.

His speech came as the country's top three reformist leaders sought to rekindle their opposition movement, demanding that ruling clerics end the heavy "security atmosphere" imposed after the elections and free those detained in the unrest, according to an opposition website.

It was Mr Ahmadinejad's first national speech since the Supreme Leader declared the election results valid despite an outcry from the other candidates and weeks of street protests claiming that the results were fraudulent.

"This is a new beginning for Iran ... we have entered a new era," the President said, explaining that the 85 per cent turnout and overwhelming win had given his government a new legitimacy.

"It was the most clean and free election in the world," he said, adding that during the re-count "no fault was discovered. The whole nation understood this.

"This election has doubled the dignity of the Iranian nation."

During the half-hour speech, Iranians in many parts of the capital Tehran could be heard shouting from their rooftops, "death to the dictator" and "God is great" - actions that have become a symbol of defiance since the elections.

Opposition Leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the June 12 election, is struggling for a way to channel the widespread discontent since the vote. The discontent has since been shattered by the harsh crackdown by police, Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia.

Mr Mousavi hinted on Monday that he may move away from the tactic of protests and create a political party to work in what he called "a legal framework".

Yesterday he met the other top stars of the reform movement - former president Mohammad Khatami and Mahdi Karroubi, another election candidate - in a show of unity.

The three warned Iran's clerical leadership that if the security crackdown continued, it "will only lead to radicalisation of political activities", Mr Mousavi's website reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, hundreds of opposition supporters quietly flocked to mosques or retreated to their homes to begin an unusual form of three-day strike - boycotting workplaces, banks and the bazaar.

In a novel attempt to outflank government restrictions, opposition supporters alerted one another to take advantage of an Islamic tradition rarely practised in Iran called Etekaf. It calls for a retreat from worldly activities during three days in the month of Rajab in the Islamic calendar.

Source: The Australian