Three years ago, younger voters, women, urban dwellers and other Iranians fed up with clerical repression helped elect Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric, to the presidency.
"What would you expect a cleric to say?" asked Dr Jaafari.
If appointed, he would become the first black cleric to occupy the post.
His son is taunted for his father's "fall" from cleric to secularist.
But they will still need guarantors, ideally a respected elder or cleric, to vouch for them.
He is the fourth Argentine cleric to be convicted of sex crimes.
The candidate speculated that the victorious Shiites might well ask Allawi, rather than a religious cleric, to be Prime Minister.
British authorities are still locked in a protracted effort to send another prominent Muslim cleric to Jordan to face charges.
Seeking to consolidate Russia's hold on Chechnya, President Vladimir V. Putin appointed a Muslim cleric to govern the breakaway republic.
Mr. Adeeb said some Sadrist politicians were trying to persuade the cleric to issue such a statement.
Ilam, Khuzestan and the crucial province of Fars all saw huge swings from the cleric to Ahmadinejad.
