PARIS, France: Payvand Iran News reported that a group of anti-Khamenei Iranian clerics, the Clerics and Seminarians of Qom and Najaf (Motghan), had issued an open letter at the threshold of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's trip to Qom warning the clerics community that meeting with the leader is akin to approving the crimes and contradicting Islamic principles.

According to the report Motghan website says that in the wake of the leader's trip, Qom is hovering under strict security measures and they hope that their letter would affect the Supreme Leader and lead him to repent from his sins against the people.

The clerics and seminarians of Qom and Najaf anticipating possible accusation from the government, stressed that they are not "foreign elements" and are "deeply concerned about Iran's national security and independence."

The letter repeated the allegations of vote fraud in the 2009 presidential elections and maintains that based on new evidence surfacing everyday regarding the elections, the supreme leader is "directly responsible for this crime and great betrayal."

They also condemn the treatment of political detainees in the aftermath of the election protests.

The clerics accused the Islamic Republic of using policies that have discredited the clergy amongst the people and urge the establishment and the supreme leader to reconsider their ways.

While Ayatollah Khamenei pushed that senior clerics to throw their support behind the government as he began his ten-day visit to the holy city of Qom.

Ayatollah Khamenei publicly supported president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the June 2009 presidential elections and endorsed his disputed victory in the vote. But a majority of senior clerics in Qom didn't side with Mr Ahmadinejad and have increasingly adopted a critical language against the government.

On the start of his visit, Iranian media highlighted pictures of a smiling Khamenei sitting with several top dignitaries, including some who have been critical since the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad last year.

Among the sages pictured sipping tea with Khamenei was Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, a critic of Ahmadinejad, along with five other clerics who have the elevated status of "marja-e taqlid".

Also among the senior clerics pictured with Khamenei was Sadegh Larijani, head of the judiciary.

Meanwhile, clerical sources say unease is rife in Qom over a perceived drive by Khamenei to position his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his potential successor.