Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reluctantly bowed to the authority of Iran’s leading cleric by agreeing to bury the hatchet with political opponents following a high-profile squabble with the country’s judiciary chief.
Days after being on the receiving end of a humiliating rebuke about acting out disputes in public, the Iranian president has written to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, promising to obey his orders to keep disagreements behind closed doors.
The letter was posted on the president’s website after Mr Khamenei this week accused unnamed senior officials of “betrayal” by publicly airing their differences at a time when the country is facing intense international economic sanctions over its suspect nuclear programme. His remarks were widely seen as condemnation of a row between Mr Ahmadinejad and Sadegh Larijani, head of the judiicary, over the rejection of the president’s request to visit Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Mr Ahmadinejad’s senior media adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, is currently being held in the jail.
“The government fully welcomes your notice … (and) won’t engage in domestic quarrels and disputes and will patiently tolerate all unkind behavior as before,” the president wrote, adding that he would devote his energies to countering the effects of the sanctions.
But in a defiant and audacious note, Mr Ahmadinejad made it clear he expected Ayatollah Khamenei to protect him from opponents whom he accused of “violating the president’s rights “.
“I’m sure his excellency emphasises the absolute safeguarding of the constitution and the high status of the nation’s elected president, who holds the highest official rank after the supreme leader,” he wrote.
Mr Ahmadinejad has previously claimed that Mr Larijani’s refusal to allow him to visit Evin was a violation of his presidential authority.
His letter came a day after Mr Larijani, and his brother Ali, the parliament speaker, sent separate notes to Ayatollah Khamenei agreeing to heed his command against public rows. The Larijani brothers are among the leading figures in a conservative faction at loggerheads with Mr Ahmadinejad, whose presidential term ends next summer. Ayatollah Khamenei is believed to side with them after turning against the president, his former protege.
