Rouhani Criticizes 'Exaggeration of Short-term Weaknesses and Problems'

The President of Iran welcomed the recent implicit warning from the Supreme Leader to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former President, and referred to the existing problems as 'short-term'. He stated that, in his belief, 'those accused of corruption and misappropriation hide their offenses behind political disputes.' According to the state news agency IRNA, Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, January 7, that 'any kind of division among the branches and institutions, exaggerating weaknesses and short-term problems, and creating despair in public opinion regarding the future of the country; is a move aligned with the opposition and the path designed by the enemies of Islamic Iran.' He expressed 'appreciation' for the recent remarks of the Supreme Leader, adding: 'With maximum transparency in the budget and economic affairs of the country, we take the most significant step in combating corruption and inefficiency, and there will no longer be any grounds for those accused of corruption and misappropriation to hide their offenses behind political disputes.' Rouhani's comments about 'hiding' economic offenses in 'the wake of political disputes' come at a time when he and his close associates have previously implicitly referred to the arrests of some close aides of government officials, including Hossein Fereydoun, Rouhani's brother, and Mehdi Jahangiri, the brother of the First Vice President, as 'political.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, on Wednesday, January 6, implicitly accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of 'doing the enemy's work inside' while criticizing attacks on the three branches of government. He emphasized that 'slander and defamation are forbidden' and stated that 'one cannot be the key figure in the country for a decade and then become a critic in the next decade.' The Supreme Leader's remarks came after severe attacks from Ahmadinejad and his associates on the judiciary. The former President of Iran stated on Tuesday, December 28, that Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, had 'lost justice' due to 'repeated violations of the constitution' and is 'unqualified', 'illegitimate', and a 'usurper' who must resign. Ahmadinejad also called for a restructuring of the judiciary and the establishment of a 'Supreme Judicial Council', as well as the 'closure of special detention centers', 'dissolution of the judiciary's intelligence protection', and 'complete prohibition of judicial officials from interfering in political matters and taking political stances.' In response to criticisms from a number of protesting Basij members after Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks, Ahmadinejad stated, 'If the leader has an opinion and someone has a different opinion, should they die?' Ahmadinejad's criticisms of the judiciary intensified following the formation of the court for Hamid Bakai and the summons of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. While the charges against Bakai relate to financial issues, Ahmadinejad and his associates have rejected these accusations, labeling the court proceedings as 'political' and claiming the aim is 'revenge' against the former government. Ahmadinejad and Bakai have also implicitly criticized the lack of investigation into the 'land-grabbing' cases and financial corruption involving Mohammad Javad Larijani and Fazel Larijani, two brothers of the heads of the judiciary and legislative branches. Meanwhile, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the government spokesman, after the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun, expressed similar criticisms to those of Ahmadinejad and his associates. He stated, 'This issue should also apply to the head of the judiciary or the legislative branch, and the independent judiciary will act against others just as it did with the President's brother.' Judiciary officials have denied reports about the 'espionage' of the daughter of the head of the judiciary and announced that no crime has been established regarding the 'land-grabbing' cases of Mohammad Javad Larijani and Fazel Larijani's attempts to bribe the Social Security Organization. In 2012, during the impeachment of the then Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, Ahmadinejad released a video of a conversation between Fazel Larijani and Saeed Mortazavi, the then head of the Social Security Organization, in which the brother of the head of the judiciary requests a bribe from Mortazavi. Previously, some websites had published a report from the Minister of Agriculture in Ahmadinejad's government, which stated that Mohammad Javad Larijani had 'usurped 342 hectares of land in Varamin.'