Reformers call for probe of Iran supreme leader

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran – A group of former reformist lawmakers has appealed to a powerful clerical body in Iran to investigate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's qualification to rule after the controversial postelection crackdown.

There has been no response from the Assembly of Experts whether it would agree to launch an investigation. But the call by former lawmakers late Thursday, is an unprecedented challenge to Khamenei, whose position as the top figure in Iran's clerical leadership has long been seen as unquestionable.

Pro-opposition Web sites say the former lawmakers' call came in a letter to the head of the Experts Assembly, a body of clerics that has the power to name the supreme leader and, in theory, to remove him.