According to a statement released Wednesday, the group of MPs, lawyers, academics, journalists and student activists said awarding the prize to Aghajari would "support the current of reforms in Iran and prevent a military attack against Iran by the United States."

A supporter of Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami and a university professor, Aghajari was sentenced to death in November 2002 for blasphemy. Although his jail term has since been reduced to three years, he is still waiting for a review of his death penalty.

He sparked the anger of Iran's religious establishment in a speech on June 19, 2002, when he questioned clerics' right to rule in Iran by calling for an "Islamic Reformation" and saying Muslims "should not blindly ... follow their religious leaders".

The statement said Aghajari was an "eminent representative of a reformist movement pressing for liberty, justice, peace and democracy."

The prize is set to be announced in Oslo on October 10. The five members of the Nobel Committee will have their work cut out for them to select a winner among the record 165 candidates in the running this year.

WAR.WIRE