Iran Denies Ahmadinejad Was Detained

The Iranian Embassy in Ankara, reacting to a report republished in Turkish press, has denied the claim that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was detained and questioned for seven hours by Iran’s IRGC intelligence agents and threatened not to push Mashaie’s candidacy in the upcoming presidential election.

“Based on an untrustworthy reporting, it is observed that some press institutions have published news, saying that the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran honorable Ahmadinejad has been detained. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran denies those news reports,” said the embassy’s news release. (Hurriyet Daily News, 3 May)

File photo: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a speech in Hoveyzeh, Khuzestan. 23 April 2013. (president.ir/AFP)

Ahmadinejad Attends Azadi Stadium Rally

Mashaie Absent – Nikzad in Attendance

The long anticipated Ahmadinejad/Mashaei gathering at Azadi Stadium did not happen as advertised. Mashaie was absent at today “rally” that was expected to be the unofficial start of his presidential campaign. President Ahmadinejad did attend the half-empty stadium and the program did not have significant political content. Instead Ahmadinejad thanked government workers for their efforts in ensuring that the new year celebrations which stared on 21 March and high-volume travels throughout the country during the two-week holiday that ensued went smoothly.

Mashaie’s absence and instead the presence of Ali Nikzad, the minister of transportation who has already declared his candidacy, could be seen that Ahmadinejad supporters believe that Mashaie’s candidacy could be rejected by the Guardian Council and Nikzad could end up being the standard bearer for the group in the June election.

Photo credit: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waving the Iranian flag at the rally at Azadi Stadium. Tehran, 18 April 2013. (Hamid Forootan/ISNA)

Ahmadinejad Leaves Benin for Niger

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrapped up his daylong visit to Western African country of Benin, where he received the country’s highest civilian decoration, and headed to Niger. There he is expected to discuss direct import of uranium with the country’s officials. Niger is the world’s fourth largest producer of uranium, with the French nuclear group Areva having had a monopoly of production and sales of its uranium. (Reuters, 15 April)

Iran does have its own uranium mines, but could soon exhaust the reserves crucial to its nuclear program. After Niger, Ahmadinejad will visit Ghana before heading home to serve out his last two months as president. 

Photo credit: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after receiving Benin’s highest decoration from President Yayi Boni. Also in picture is presidential hopeful Esfandiar Rahim Mashie, second from left. Porto Novo, People’s Democratic Republic of Benin; 14 April 2013 (Mohammad Babaie/IRNA)

Ahmadinejad to Hold Rally at Azadi Stadium - UPDATE

To honor the country’s cultural heritage and tourism organization, President Ahmadinejad is a throwing a big party on 15 April at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, the capital’s largest outdoor venue used for major soccer matches that can seat more than 100,000 people. The gathering is said to be an “extravaganza”, “more glorious” than previous years, with traditional music bands performing at the event.

But the goal this year, two months prior to the upcoming presidential election, is widely believed to be the launch of the candidacy of Esfandia Rahim Mashaie, albeit informally, to replace Ahmadinejad as the next president of Iran. Both Ahmadinejad and Mashaie are expected to speak at the event.

“Zendeh Bad Bahar” (“Viva Spring”) will be the slogan for the event. It’s been used in recent months as the signature campaign slogan in pro-Ahmadinaejad/Mashaie rallies. The right, who accuses Mashaie of being the leader of the “deviationsts” for his perceived preference of the nationalist Iranian character of the country at the expense of Islam, cringes at such slogan and the Iranian-flag waving crowd that attend such events.

The conservatives will try to stop Mashaie’s run for presidency through the Guardian Council, a 12-member body consisting of clerics and Islamic jurists, with half of its members appointed by the supreme leader and the other half selected by the conservative majority in the Majlis. Ironically if they are successful in rejecting Mashaie’s candidacy, they will open the door for the victory of the candidate of the moderates/reformists.

UPDATE: The rally has been postponed to Thursday 18 April.

File photo: Esfandia Rahim Mashaie (R) and President Ahmadinejad (VOA/rferl.org)