Arab papers are reporting that Hashemi Rafsanjani has met with senior ayatollahs in the Iranian city of Qom and with members of Iran's Assembly of Experts, which oversees Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to examine with them ways of solving the crisis in Iran, including the possibility of establishing an alternative religious council as a move against Khamenei.
Five of Rafsanjani's family members were arrested by security forces on June 20; they were subsequently released.
Sources: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, June 22, 2009; Alarabiya.net, June 21, 2009
