Rafsanjani calls for the release of post-election prisoners

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) - Iran's powerful cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on Iran to release those people arrested following last month's disputed presidential election.

"There is no need to have these numbers of people in prison," the former Iranian president said during his highly anticipated Friday sermon.

"Let them come back to their families. Let the enemy not laugh at us and criticize us. We must sympathize with those who have suffered damages," and he warned, "The system cannot lose them. If the system reapproaches them they will come back to us."

Tens of thousands of people gathered in and around Tehran University as Rafsanjani spoke for about an hour, according to witnesses at the speech. Iranian police used tear gas to disperse some of the crowds.

Rafsanjani backs reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi, the opposition candidate who challenged hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election.

After weeks of silence, Rafsanjani has become increasingly vocal in opposing the brutal crackdown on demonstrators who protested election results. He was under pressure to publicly deliver support for the Iranian establishment in his upcoming remarks.