TEHRAN, 15 December 2007 — A coalition of Iranian reformists yesterday criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his hard-line policies and said they were worsening a crisis with the international community. Iranian reformists and some senior clerics, including former President Mohammad Khatami, have challenged Ahmadinejad’s nuclear policy, blaming him for the imposition of tougher UN and US sanctions in response to Tehran’s atomic work.

The Coalition of Reformist Groups said reformists planned to field candidates in the Islamic state’s parliamentary elections in 2008, after winning seats in local council elections last year in a turnout that has boosted their confidence.

“People in the country are witnessing the country’s (isolated) position in the international arena and the two (UN Security Council) resolutions that has been imposed on Iran,” former Education Minister Morteza Haji told a news conference at the coalition’s building in Tehran.

Haji, who also heads the coalition in the capital Tehran, called Ahmadinejad’s government “the most unstable government” the country has ever had since the 1979 Revolution. “We (reformists) believe the only way out of these threats and sanctions is with people’s votes,” Abdollah Naseri, the coalition’s spokesman said.

Domestic criticism of the handling of Iran’s nuclear policy is unusual and sensitive because it is seen as a matter of national security. Iran is at a standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear program. Tehran says its atomic work is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity, but Western countries fear it is a cover to build bombs.