Executive Vice-President Had Been Arrested

As Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s supporters continued their efforts to get a (candidate) share from the principlists (for the upcoming Majlis elections), the president himself stepped in to denounce such actions. In the meantime, a prominent cleric Jaafar Shajooni expressed caution in labeling Ahmadinejad a principlist and declared that the regime intended to keep and adjust rather than remove the president from office. Shajooni is the head of Tehran’s influential prayer chaplains organization and is the first official to formally reveal that a number of Ahmadinejad’s close allies had been banned from leaving the country and that his deputy, vice-president Hamid Baghai had even been arrested.

Last week the president’s chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashai had been absent from his office despite Ahmadinejad’s earlier warning that the red line for attacking and removing his allies lay at the cabinet ministers. He had suggested he would tolerate the removal of his cabinet staff. The president’s office called the news of the arrest of Baghai “a basic fabrication.”

Speaking to Sharq newspaper (a relatively moderate newspaper that has been shut in the past) Shajooni, who is also a member of the Combatant Clergy Association (which includes members such as Hashemi Rafsanjani) responded to a question regarding Ahmadinejad’s and his allies’ denial of the existence of a group pursuing a “deviant [revolutionary] course” by saying, “What else can they say? Mr. Baghai was arrested just recently and then released for some reasons. The judiciary investigation over him continues.”

In the interview, Shajooni said, “I view Ahmadinejad as part of the principlists [individuals expressing their commitment to what they say are the principles of the 1979 Islamic revolution] but with a reservation. He suffers from the same problem that Rafsanjani carries: procrastination.”

He also spoke of the strategy that the Iranian regime had adopted in confronting Ahmadinejad and said, “The policy that the regime has adapted towards Ahmadinejad is to adjust and keep Ahmadinejad rather than remove him.”

Shajooni’s remarks about Baghai's imprisonment were met with criticism by Ahmadinejad’s allies. Hassan Mohseni, the public relations director of the executive deputy of the presidential complex said, “Some media have quoted cleric Jaafar Shajooni that Baghai had been arrested and claimed that he had then been released. This news is baseless and a complete lie.”

But this report is not new. News reports about Esfandiar Rahim Mashai’s house arrest had been published in the past and Baghai had been earlier banned from government service for four years by a court order.

In a related development, Abbas Saliminamin, an active principlist accused Ahmadinejad of “making a deal with Azad University” and added, “We are certainly witnessing serious issues in Ahmadinejad’s administration. He has remained the same person in some areas and has maintained his negative attitude. He also plays a more prominent role today vis-à-vis those at the apex of power.” Commenting on ayatollah Khamenei’s actions in support of Ahmadinejad, he described these not to be supportive of the president as a person, but “a revolutionary necessary to stand behind a person who was opposing certain drives who wanted to establish themselves in the country.”

In other fronts, criticism of Ahmadinejad and his supporters is also on the rise. Prominent Majlis representative Ahmad Tavakoli has a record of criticizing the president. Another principlist representative Esmail Kowsar recently called Ahmadinejad’s assurances “hollow” that resulted in mistrust and anger.

But the president also has supporters who praise him in public. The head of Mehr Reza Foundation called Ahmadinejad worthy of receiving the Nobel Prize for creating jobs, employment and providing credit with rapid results.

Source: roozonline.com