Grand Ayatollah slams Ahmadinejad performance
Washington, 27 August (IranVNC)—Grand Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani, considered a source of emulation by Shiite Muslims, has criticized the performance of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and called on those who criticize Ahmadinejad’s government to unite ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
By: IranVNC
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
14:30GMT—10:30AM/EST
CLERGY – CRTICISM – AHMADINEJAD
Washington, 27 August (IranVNC)—Grand Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani, considered a source of emulation by Shiite Muslims, has criticized the performance of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and called on those who criticize Ahmadinejad’s government to unite ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
In an interview with the German-language newspaper, Financial Times Deutschland [FTD], published yesterday online, Bayat-Zanjani said: “Ahmadinejad no longer adheres to the will of the population.”
Saying this was a “great danger,” he accused Ahmadinejad of breaching the law, grave infringement on established freedoms, and illegal empowerment of the Islamic Revolution Guards, FTD reports.
But he said that “everything was on course for change,” and urged Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ayatollah Mehdi Karoubi, and former President Mohammad Khatami, whom he counted among Iran’s political reformists, to work together against Ahmadinejad in the upcoming presidential elections of 2009.
“I hold them to be very influential in this society and ask them, therefore, to unite their organizations and followers,” Bayat-Zanjani said.
He added that Iran’s reformists would have defeated Ahmadinejad in the last election, if these individuals had not competed against each other.
Bayat-Zanjani’s office today denied that he had made such statements.
“Although the perspective of his Excellency, the source of emulation, [Bayat-Zanjani], was critical, the phrases and utterances that were reported by the media were not part of the interview and are therefore denied,” a statement published on the Grand Ayatollah’s website read.
However, Ahmadinejad today assessed developments in Iran more positively.
Speaking in Tehran to a gathering of youth, Ahmadinejad said that his country was on track to “become a role model for the world” and “to take its rightful place before 2025”.
Stating that “without a doubt, Iranian talent is the highest in the world,” he urged the audience to cooperate with that country’s ministers to improve the workings of the government.
But in his interview with FTD, Bayat-Zanjani questioned the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad’s government, saying: “If people don’t trust the government, it automatically loses its legitimacy.”
Sources: Financial Times Deutschland, IRNA
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.