NCRI – With so-called presidential election being two months away, factional feuding is escalating among various groups within the ruling clerical establishment.
On February 25th Iranian President Hassan Rouhani cited the interference of the Revolutionary Guards and Guardian Council in the election. He even referred to the 2009 uprisings and warned those loyal to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“We all know what happened then and we have seen the result of how polarization on the issues created so many dilemmas,” he said.
“Some people apparently suffer from political Alzheimer. Mutuality has been very fruitful for some people. When meat became cheap, if those in state TV remember, they broadcasted this only as the last news report,” Rouhani said on February 26.
Iranian Vice President Es’hagh Jahangiri also made his remarks heard.
“There are those who don’t permit vice presidents and cabinet ministers deliver speeches,” he said, according by the semi-official Tasnim news agency published on February 25.
According to a report by website of the Iranian parliament on February 26, Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli said: “Some people are trying to show there is conflict within the country, and they express issues as if there is a rift between the leader and the president,”
Mehdi Mohammadi, a member of Khamenei’s faction, said: “The initiative is now outside of the cabinet. Some cabinet members have come to understand this now and this is exactly why they are thinking of ‘ridding themselves of the Rouhani dilemma,” according to a report published on February 26 in state-run Sharq daily.
The Jahan San’at (World of Industry) daily wrote a piece on February 26 criticizing Rouhani’s cabinet saying, “Should we not criticize those who once gain power suddenly forget all the promises and pledges they provided to the people?”
These were only a tip of the iceberg of Khamenei’s faction attacking Rouhani. In response Rouhani and his media outlets continuously warn their rivals of abiding by the principals and accusing Khamenei loyalists of not allowing the cabinet do its work.
