TEHRAN: One of Iran’s most senior politicians accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday of lying in a televised presidential election debate and called on the country’s supreme leader to take action.
In an unprecedented public attack, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said tens of millions of Iranians had witnessed “mis-statements and fabrications” in the debate last week, when Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani of corruption.
Ahmadinejad also said in the debate Rafsanjani was part of a political alliance supporting the main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and seeking to prevent his re-election on Friday.
“I am expecting you to resolve this position in order to extinguish the fire, whose smoke can be seen in the atmosphere, and to foil dangerous plots to take action,” Rafsanjani said in a letter to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, published by the Mehr news agency.
The election campaign has already been marked by fierce public debate between Ahmadinejad and his moderate rivals, but Rafsanjani’s intervention is likely to raise tensions further. “Even if I continue to tolerate this situation, there is no doubt that some people, parties and factions will not tolerate this situation,” Rafsanjani said.
Meanwhile, a renowned women’s rights activist could become the first-ever female Cabinet minister in Islamic Iran, it was announced yesterday. Jamileh Kadivar, a university professor and former Parliament deputy, is favored to become minister if Karroubi wins the election.
“Mrs. Kadivar is one of the most qualified officials of the country and could take care of either the Culture or Higher Education Ministry,” Karroubi told reporters in Tehran. The only high-ranking female officials in Iran have so far been Massoumeh Ebtkear and Fatemeh Javadi.
