June 21 (Bloomberg) -- At least 10 protesters were killed in Iran and, in a sign of widening divisions within the regime, state media reported that security forces detained five members of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s family.

Rafsanjani, one of the most influential politicians in Iran, is a behind-the-scenes supporter of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who says that June 12 elections were rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That puts him in conflict with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has approved of the electoral win.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said most Iranians contest the official results of the election, state-run Press TV reported on its Web site today. Ten people were killed yesterday in rioting as thousands of people defied Khamenei’s ban on rallies, state television reported, quoting deputy police chief Ahmadreza Radan.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians have opposed Ahmadinejad’s re-election in the largest demonstrations since the Islamic Revolution that ousted the shah in 1979. The protests and split within the ruling elite mark an unprecedented challenge to the authority of Khamenei, the successor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution.

“This is open conflict,” said Anoush Ehteshami, a professor of international relations at Durham University in the U.K. “Both sides are refusing any compromise.”

Organized Demonstrations

No organized demonstrations appeared to occur today in the capital, which has seen daily protests for the past eight days. Foreign news media have been banned from covering rallies and Internet and mobile phone connections are sporadic, making texting impossible and conversations difficult.

Iran expelled Jon Leyne, the British Broadcasting Corp’s Iran correspondent, the BBC said in an e-mailed statement today.

The Rafsanjani family members, including his daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, were arrested yesterday in connection with the protests, the state-run Fars news agency said. Rafsanjani’s daughter has been seen on state television at a protest, addressing demonstrators.

Rafsanjani, 75, who heads the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body which has the power to appoint or dismiss the supreme leader, now is likely to rally support to try to dislodge Khamenei, said Ehteshami.

Further Demonstrations

Mousavi, 67, yesterday called for further demonstrations in defiance of Khamenei, the highest authority in the Persian Gulf nation of 73 million. The supreme leader warned in a speech two days ago that the protests must stop, or opposition leaders would be responsible for the bloodshed.

Radan said more than 100 people were injured in rioting. He said security forces did not use firearms and “terrorist groups” among the protesters were responsible for the casualties. CNN television, citing staff at a Tehran hospital, said 19 people were killed.

Larijani said in comments yesterday on state-run Channel 2 that “a majority of the people are of the opinion that the actual election results are different than what was officially announced,” Press TV reported.

“The opinion of this majority should be respected,” he said on a Web site affiliated with him, Khabaronline, according to Press TV. The parliament speaker, a former head of the Security Council, sat to the right of Ahmadinejad during Khamenei’s Friday prayers address at Tehran University on June 19 in which the supreme leader backed the president.

‘Problems for Ahmadinejad’

“The fact that Larijani has come out like this is going to really cause problems for Ahmadinejad, the supreme leader and the regime itself,” said Kaveh-Cyrus Sanandaji, an Iran expert from Oxford University in the U.K. “This is undermining the regime internally, there is dissent at the very top echelons of government.”

Former President Mohammad Khatami, 65, a Mousavi ally who sought to promote more social and political freedoms during his 1997-2005 administration, also said that “a massive number of our great people do not believe the results that were announced.”

“Public trust has been damaged,” Khatami said in a statement on his Web site and that of Mousavi. “Closing the door to civil protests means opening a dangerous path and God knows where that will lead.”

Khamenei, 69, during Friday prayers reaffirmed Ahmadinejad’s electoral victory, calling it a “real celebration” for Iran and a “political earthquake” for the country’s enemies.

Unjust Actions

In Washington, President Barack Obama urged an end to the crackdown. “We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

At least 15 people were killed before yesterday’s protests, the British Broadcasting Corp. said.

The turmoil in Iran poses a dilemma for Obama: speaking up in support of the protesters may undermine the very forces he supports, while keeping quiet exposes him to domestic political criticism.

“If we appear to be cheerleading for some sort of opposition movement on the streets, it intensifies the opposition of the hardliners,” said Suzanne Maloney, an Iran analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Tear Gas

Video aired by Press TV showed scores of demonstrators being scattered by tear gas yesterday. A separate video aired by the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Persian service showed hundreds protesting in another location.

An amateur video posted on Facebook showed protesters chanting “death to the dictator!” attacked by baton-wielding anti-riot police.

After the protests were broken up, Mousavi, posted a letter to the clergy-led Guardian Council on his Web site, repeating his call for the election to be annulled and alleging that vote- fraud had been planned months in advance.

Ahmadinejad won about 63 percent of the vote, to Mousavi’s 34 percent.

The Guardian Council said it was ready to recount “randomly” up to 10 percent of ballot boxes, Press TV said.

The Security Council has blamed an “organized network” led by groups with connections to foreigners for stoking the demonstrations.

Khatami, 65, denounced efforts to tar the protests as foreign-led as “tension-fueling and insulting propaganda.”

It is still possible to move away from “this chaotic situation,” he said in comments reported by the state-run Mehr news agency.

Ahmadinejad’s opponents, who accuse him of driving Iran into international isolation over the country’s nuclear program, say his re-election removes any vestiges of democracy in the Islamic republic.

For Related News and Information: Top government stories: TOP GOV <GO> Regional stories: TOP MIDEAST <GO> Iranian politics: TNI IRAN POL <GO>

Last Updated: June 21, 2009 12:53 EDT