Iran: Khamenei Refuses To Meet With Ahmadinejad
By GVF
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has refused to meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sources told the Green Voice of Freedom.
In recent days, pro-government websites had announced that Ahmadinejad was scheduled to meet with Khamenei in order to secure the release of his top press adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, from Evin Prison.
Khamenei reportedly declined to take part in any discussion regarding the case of Javanfekr, who heads the country’s official news agency Irna.
On 26 September, as Ahmadinejad was taking part in the UN General Assembly in New York, Javanfekr was arrested to serve out a six-month term on charges of publishing an article deemed offensive to Islamic codes and public morality. ُThe charges were upheld by an appeals court in February.
Conservative website Baztab reported recently that Ahmadinejad was refraining from appearing at work and had limited his public appearances after returning from New York in order to protest the ongoing arrest of his media advisor.
Khamenei’s refusal to meet with Ahmadinejad is seen as yet another indicator that the political feud between the “president” and the leader shows no sign of abating.
The rifts between the two began to emerge in April 2011 when Ahmadinejad refused to appear at the presidential office for days in response to Khamenei’s reinstating of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi after he was asked by Ahmadinejad to step down from the position.
