Speaker of Parliament: They Say Ahmadinejad's Dog is More Honorable than Larijani

In response to criticism from Mehdi Kouchakzadeh, a representative from Tehran, and some other unnamed representatives, the Speaker of Parliament said: "They have said that Mr. Ahmadinejad's and Mashaei's dog is more honorable than these people... How can it be that a dog of someone has more honor than a Muslim?" Mehdi Kouchakzadeh, a member of the Stability Front, mentioned Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, during a public session on Tuesday, August 6, stating that the Parliament has been sidelined from interfering in the Vienna nuclear agreement due to a "monarchical" approach. According to reports, this statement provoked a reaction from Kazem Jalali, the head of the Parliament's Followers of the Line of the Imam faction, to which Kouchakzadeh responded by accusing Jalali of "self-promotion" and that he would "definitely justify whatever is approved by Ali Larijani with a thousand and one tricks." Hours after this incident, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a representative from Ardakan, objected to Kouchakzadeh's remarks, stating that "some have drawn their swords." According to the House of the Nation news agency, which is affiliated with the Parliament, Ali Larijani responded to this objection and Kouchakzadeh's comments by saying: "I did not understand who he was referring to with his monarchical remarks." He added: "In another place, some claimed that Mr. Larijani does not allow nuclear issues to be raised in Parliament because Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mr. Rouhani made him Speaker of Parliament; is this not an insult to the representatives of Parliament?" He emphasized: "Or in another place, it was said that Mr. Ahmadinejad's and Mashaei's dog is more honorable than these people; is this kind of talk correct? At least I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger, so how can a dog of someone have more honor than a Muslim?" Larijani did not name the representatives who made these remarks about him. Meanwhile, according to Tasnim News Agency, Mehdi Kouchakzadeh said: "I do not know who Mr. Larijani is referring to; he himself has officially stated that I was not his intended target." At the same time, Rouhollah Hosseinian, a member of the Stability Front in Parliament, also stated that "I asked members of the Followers of the Line of the Imam faction: Who is Mr. Larijani referring to? They each named some of our friends." He emphasized that he also asked Hamid Rasai, Javad Karimi Qodosi, and Mahmoud Nabavian, other members of the Stability Front, and they said they had "not made such a statement at all." Members of the Stability Front in Parliament are among the main critics of Ali Larijani. In the last election for the Parliament's leadership, Rouhollah Hosseinian, a member of this front, lost to Larijani with 36 votes.