Iran's main pro-democracy student group weighed into a bitter political stand-off Wednesday, calling for a boycott of next month's parliament elections in protest over the mass disqualification of reformist candidates.
And dampening hopes that the Islamic republic could pull out of one of its worst political crisis amid intense government wrangling with hard-liners, embattled President Mohammad Khatami cautioned it was too early to say if an acceptable solution could be found.
A statement from the Office to Consolidate Unity (OCU) - a coalition of pro-reform student groups - dealt a symbolic blow to the president when it said voters should stay at home on February 20.
"Noting the fact that people's votes have no effect ... and that there is no possibility for fair and free elections, there is no justification for people to participate in these elections," the OCU said in a statement carried by the state news agency IRNA.
Student activists, who last summer sparked a nation-wide security alert when they led a series of anti-regime protests, represent one of the main driving forces behind the reform movement, put into power by a massive youth vote.
Their call for a boycott was seen as reflecting mounting frustration with the president, who has been widely criticised for being too weak in the face of more powerful conservatives.
It was the unelected but powerful Guardians Council that plunged Iran into crisis two weeks ago when it announced it was blacklisting 3,605 of 8,157 prospective candidates who registered to contest the elections - a move that drew allegations of poll rigging.
Those barred by the Guardians Council - a body that screens all laws and candidates for public office - included some 80 sitting MPs and prominent leaders of the reform movement.
The OCU also called on reformist deputies to keep up their sit-in at the Majlis building and press for the crucial elections to be postponed. A group of around 50 OCU activists have already joined the parliamentary sit-in.
"Just as they have stood up honestly until now and have sworn to defend the rights of people, they should also resist holding these elections," the OCU said.
"The biggest mistake and failure of the reformists will be to give in and accept to have these elections."
The OCU said reformists, who last February were widely defeated in municipal elections due to voter apathy, should instead press for a referendum on the Islamic republic's political future.
Meanwhile, Khatami dampened hopes of a solution to the crisis.
The president said his government was locked in talks with the Guardians Council, and that he was still fending off resignations from some of his closest allies in the cabinet, provinces and ministries.
"My government will organise free, fair and competitive elections. I will make all efforts for this to materialise, and I hope this will materialise," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"We are currently discussing with the Guardians Council," he said, before warning that "in the end it is not known if the outcome will be acceptable for us.