Tehran - Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has called on all opposition groups to unite in order to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the upcoming elections, the ISNA news agency reported Thursday.

"The society has reached a juncture in which all [political groups] should try to change the political status quo," Khatami told a group of reformists in Tehran.

"Change is the most urgent necessity and anyone who can enable this change should be supported," added Khatami, a fierce opponent of Ahmadinejad's policies.

Khatami on Monday quit the presidential race to support former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi in the June 12 elections.

As Khatami vowed to support Moussavi, the top opposition candidate vowed to continue the reform course of the former president.

With the economic crisis on top of the Iranian people's minds, the opposition groups decided to give priority to Moussavi, who is known for his skills as crisis manager when prime minister at the time of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and for his links with the country's labour unions.

Ahmadinejad has failed to implement economic reforms and fulfil his promises to improve the living standards of middle- and low-income Iranians. (dpa)