Javanfekr Describes Mohsen Rezai's Comments on Ahmadinejad as Resulting from 'Satanic Suggestions'

A week after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech in Ahvaz, which continues to stir controversy, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, his advisor, reacted to Mohsen Rezai's criticism of the former president of Iran, deeming his statements as stemming from 'satanic suggestions.' On April 9, Rezai had called on Ahmadinejad to quickly deny his remarks made on April 2. Ahmadinejad stated: 'Those who think the nation does not understand are the most ignorant people on earth. What kind of monarchy has emerged in some people... You are mobilizing to tell the nation that subsidies are bad and not to do it? 97 percent want something; why are you against the nation? 80 million people do not understand, but you do; this very nation brought you to power.' The release of video clips from this speech on social media was met with reactions and protests. Rezai expressed hope that Ahmadinejad would 'quickly deny his words,' emphasizing that 'the leader of this revolution is Ayatollah Khamenei, and we owe all our progress to his guidance.' In response, Javanfekr identified the audience of Ahmadinejad's speech in Ahvaz as Hassan Rouhani and the eleventh government, claiming that 'hostile and anti-system media' distorted these words to 'imply that the president and the eleventh government were not the audience of these remarks and that Dr. Ahmadinejad intended to attack and undermine the leadership.' Javanfekr further described Rezai as being 'influenced by the satanic suggestions of the enemies and opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran,' stating that he 'is unable to distinguish the distortion from the truth of the matter.' He also emphasized that Rezai 'has fallen for the media game of the regime's opponents' and based on this 'deception,' has made comments and taken positions that, according to Ahmadinejad's advisor, is 'deeply concerning.' Javanfekr deemed Rezai's expectation for Ahmadinejad to deny or clarify his 'distorted statements' as 'completely illogical.' However, despite Ahmadinejad not providing an official explanation for his remarks, Abdolhossein Rouhalamini, the Secretary-General of the Development and Justice Party of Iran, quoted Rezai on Friday, stating that 'denying the interpretations made from Ahmadinejad's remarks in Khuzestan is a necessary action and thanked for it.' Previously, Hamid Boutalebi, the political deputy of the Iranian president's office, described Ahmadinejad's speech in Ahvaz as 'subversive' and 'propaganda' against the Supreme Leader's view of him not running in the presidential elections. Hossein Dehghan, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani, also conducted a Twitter poll asking followers against whom they believe Ahmadinejad's speech was directed, the president, the Supreme Leader, or the principlists. Javanfekr, in protest to this poll, stated that Ahmadinejad's audience was Hassan Rouhani. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, who had previously been advised by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, not to participate in the presidential election, despite announcing that he would not run and would not support anyone in these elections, has recently entered the electoral competition by supporting his former deputy, Hamid Baghaei, who has announced his candidacy. Aside from Baghaei and Ahmadinejad's team, principlists are attempting to participate in the upcoming presidential elections with a single candidate. In this context, the principlist coalition known as the 'Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces,' established in early December 2016, has announced that it will introduce a candidate in the elections. According to reports from principlist media, Ebrahim Raisi, Mehrdad Bazrpash, Saeed Jalili, Hamidreza Hajibabayi, Mohammad Khoshchehreh, Mohsen Rezai, Alireza Zakani, Mohammad Mahdi Zahedi, Ezzatollah Zarghami, Parviz Fattah, Rostam Qasemi, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Mostafa Mir-Salim, and Ali Nikzad are the 14 initial candidates of this group for the presidential elections. Among these names, Ebrahim Raisi's campaign activities are more pronounced than other candidates, with a campaign titled 'Raisi Come' launched on social media to persuade him to participate in these elections. Saeed Jalili, the former Secretary of the National Security Council and a defeated candidate in the eleventh presidential election, is also continuing his travels, striving to be the principlists' candidate for these elections.