by Zhang Shengping, Chen Wendi

    TEHRAN, July 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran's powerful former President anddefeated presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani hasquickly recovered from frustration and conceded reality to avoid afurther loss in the upcoming redressing of power.

    Rafsanjani was overmatched sweepingly by ultra-conservativeTehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a presidential runoff on June24.

    The former president had taken the lead in the race since hehinted his will to run for a third term several month ago, while49-year Ahmadinejad had been widely viewed as an unpromisingplaymate until he surpassed other hopefuls to enter the runoff inthe first round of voting on June 17.

    For a powerful political veteran of the Islamic Republic, such aloss was too bitter to accept at the beginning.

    Several hours after the voting result was announced on June 25,Rafsanjani blamed his unexpected failure on some alleged illegalactivities against him in the election and some "illegallyorganized interference in the polls."

    He did not vent his anger at the Guardians Council, the hardlineelection and legislation supervisory body under orders of SupremeLeader Seyed Ali Khamenei.

    "I am not willing to present a complaint to those who have shownthat they can not or do not want to do anything. I will just leaveit to God," he said.

    Rafsanjani, however, urged the Iranians to support and helpAhmadinejad, saying he had decided to stand in the election to "serve the people, the country and the belief," showing some degreeof magnanimousness matching a sophisticated politician.

    Just several days later, Rafsanjani came back to the publicscene as usual. The veteran, still chairman of the Expediency Council and a key figure in the country's economic field, met withforeign guests including outgoing French Ambassador FrancoisNicouloud and visiting Malian President Amadou Toumany Toure at theend of June.

    On Friday, Rafsanjani went to Tehran University to serve asInterim Friday Prayers Leader, a great honor mission shared by topmullahs in Iran.

    In his speech, Rafsanjani renewed his call to back thepresident-elect, asking his supporters to forget the past andrefrain from extremism.

    "There were some problems in the process of the poll, but nowthat we have passed through that stage and have all accepted theresults, we should not enter such discussions but should supportthe new president for the sake of the revolution and Iran," hesaid.

    "I have achieved two of my three objectives in the election: ahigh turnout and a highly qualified president-elect with high levelof votes," Rafsanjani said.

    Defining the third objective as preventing conflict and discordin the country, he said "achievement of it depends on what we do inthe future." Enditem