Former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani hits back at hopeful Ahmadinejad for leveling 'unfounded accusations' against him during a debate with Mousavi, Press TV reported.

The office of the head of the Assembly of Experts called on the IRIB to give him airtime to defend himself against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's accusations, which also targeted Rafsanjani's immediate family.

The Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council made the request through a letter to the IRIB head Ezzatollah Zarghami on Thursday.

The letter described the debate as "constant accusations made by, and lies spread by Mr. Ahmadinejad about Mr. Rafsanjani and his children."

The request comes after Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani of desiring the collapse of his government and accused his sons of fraud and financial corruption.

The incumbent president, who held a televised debate with presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Mousavi on Wednesday, also launched attacks against another former president, Mohammad Khatami.

"They tried to stand against the Iranian nation but people defeated them. During these four years [Ahmadinejad's term in office] they tried to pretend that the government is unsuccessful, but with God's and people's help we have arrived at this point," the sitting president said.

"In the early days of my government, Mr. Rafsanjani sent a message to a king of a Persian Gulf state and told him not to worry, this government will collapse within six months," Ahmadinejad said.

"Such remarks clearly show that there have been massive plots underway against this government," he added.

Iran's presidential election will be held on June 12. President Ahmadinejad, the country's last prime minister Mir- Hossain Mousavi, former parliament speaker Mahdi Karoudi and Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei are the candidates.

The upcoming election will be the tenth since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 that ended the reign of the country's monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.