Opposition leaders sought today to maintain momentum in the post-election protest movement by asking permission to hold a memorial service for some of those killed in the earliest convulsions of the Iranian stand-off, including Neda Soltan, the 27-year-old woman who was shot dead at a demonstration on 20 June.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, asked for a service to mark the 40th day since Soltan and others were killed in the crackdown.

Soltan's death, which was caught on camera and spread around the world via the internet, became a global image of the protest. Her face was displayed at protests in 80 cities around the world on Saturday to mark a day of solidarity with Iranian dissidents and detainees.

Mousavi, Karroubi and 67 other opposition leaders also wrote to senior clerics in the holy city of Qom, asking them to help stop the persecution of their supporters, and expressing concern over the fate of detainees. The letter compared the actions of the government "to the oppressive rule of the shah".

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to be sworn in for a second term as president in the coming weeks and he was reportedly moving to bolster his position by removing two ministers following a dispute over the president's choice of deputy.

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