Former President of Iran: This Year, Attacks Against Ahmadinejad Will Be Intense

The former president of Iran referred to reports about his participation in the upcoming presidential elections, stating that candidates, instead of introducing themselves, "attack others" and "some even try to disqualify their rivals." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also claimed that he is being attacked by a group that has been "active against the line of Imamate throughout history and early Islam," adding, "All these attacks are just a warm-up for the year remaining until the elections; this year, the attacks against Ahmadinejad will be intense." According to ISNA news agency and Khorasan newspaper, Mr. Ahmadinejad, during his visit to Mashhad on Friday, August 8, referred to reports about his electoral travels, stating, "The BBC network explicitly announces that Ahmadinejad has started working and if he wins, Iran will be isolated again and prepared for war." He added, "When we took over the government in 2005, we were threatened with military attack, but by 2013, Obama was writing letters for cooperation with Iran." Ahmadinejad's statements come at a time when many domestic and foreign analysts claim that his remarks about Holocaust denial and the destruction of Israel have led to greater isolation for Iran in the international community. During Ahmadinejad's presidency, seven sanctions resolutions were issued by the UN Security Council against Iran, which were later lifted based on Security Council Resolution 2231 issued after the Vienna nuclear agreement. Some officials from Hassan Rouhani's government stated that the resolutions issued during Ahmadinejad's presidency under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter allowed other countries to attack Iran. "The title of elections in the country is a license for destruction and immorality," the former president continued, pointing out the "dangerousness of the electoral atmosphere in the country," stating that "unfortunately, the title of elections in the country is a license for destruction and immorality." He added, "Individuals during elections do not focus on introducing themselves and attack others. Some even try to disqualify their rivals." Some analysts have described Ahmadinejad's travels to cities in Iran, including Zanjan and Amol, as an attempt to return to Iranian politics and run for the presidential election in 2021. In this context, Akbar Turkan, a senior advisor to Hassan Rouhani, referred to Ahmadinejad as a "burnt pawn," and Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran, stated that he should be tried before running for office. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also described Ahmadinejad's government as "a strange phenomenon" accompanied by "a lot of lawlessness" and "chaos in decision-making," stating that a return to the presidency for him has "no appeal." Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Engineers Society, also deemed Ahmadinejad's candidacy as not in his "interest." Meanwhile, reports have also emerged regarding the possibility of disqualifying the former president in news websites. Abbasali Kadkhodai, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, stated on August 2 in response to a question on this matter that "these speculations have no valid basis." Ahmadinejad also mentioned that in the previous presidential election, he faced "many attacks" and that his government "endured the most attacks and pressure in history." He emphasized that "the group that has been active against the line of Imamate throughout history and early Islam... created this attack against the ninth and tenth governments." Ahmadinejad identified the purpose of the "attacks" on his government as "undermining the essence of the revolution" and "destroying the essence of the revolution and leadership," adding that "defending the two previous governments is defending the revolution." The former president also noted that some were upset about the "high flag of the revolution" during his government. In recent months, Ahmadinejad has criticized political destruction in Iran without providing details. On July 22, he stated at a student gathering, "Some investigate to disgrace someone. This is not good." His statements have received reactions on social media, with some networks highlighting contradictions between Ahmadinejad's current remarks and his statements during the 2009 presidential debates, where he made accusations against Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi, as well as the children of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Ahmadinejad also claimed that the wealth of his government officials "is one hundredth of one person from the new government." With the coming to power of the eleventh government, several managers from the ninth and tenth governments, including Hamid Bakhaei, Ahmadinejad's executive vice president, were arrested, and Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad's first vice president, was sentenced to prison for economic corruption. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, announced on July 14 that the Court of Audit had issued rulings on three cases against Ahmadinejad, but these rulings "are not being executed."