Monday, 20 February 2012

The Latest from Iran (20 February): A Meeting with the Supreme Leader?

0530 GMT: Straight into the news with interesting chatter about a meeting which may or may not have taken place --- Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, the head of the Assembly of Experts, has denied news that he had a long discussion with the Supreme Leader.

Reports had claimed that Mahdavi Kani had raised issues such as the criticism of the system and the Leader by some members of the Assembly, President Ahmadinejad's behaviour and "the criticism of him and his administration”, and the case of former Foreign Minister Ebrahim Yazdi, almost 80 years old and serving an eight-year sentence: "he is very old and ill and he might die in prison; if that happens, it will not be good for the Islamic Republic and its reputation".

Mahdavi Kani also reportedly suggested "the positive role that [former President] Hashemi Rafsanjani can play for getting more people to participate" in the Parliamentary election; "it might be a good idea to get Hashemi more involved and bring him into the scene”.

According to the report, Ayatollah Khamenei  replied, "This ‘Sir’ (Rafsanjani) sticks to his own views only, and Ahmadinejad does not act wisely; and in such situation it is not good and appropriate that the members of the Assembly start criticising or raise criticisms." 

As for Ebrahim Yazdi, the Supreme Leader said, "He is guilty and so he has to face his sentence."


from EA WorldView: EA Iran

Posted via email from lissping

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.