Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 26
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has confirmed that he advised the former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not to participate in the 2017 presidential election, the official website of the supreme leader said Sept. 26.
“I told him it is not in his and the country’s interests to run for presidency,” Khamenei said, adding, “I did not tell him not to run.”
Khamenei further said he told Ahmadinejad that his participation in the presidential election will lead to a bipolarity which is not in favour of the country and the ex-president.
Earlier certain political figures in Iran announced that Khamenei banned Ahmadinejad from running in the upcoming presidential election.
The issue was raised for the first time in Sept. 18 by Mehdi Fazaeli, former managing director of the Fars news agency, who wrote in a commentary that Khamenei had explicitly opposed Ahmadinejad’s candidacy in the upcoming presidential race.
According to Fazaeli, Iran’s supreme leader “wants to prevent the repetition of the past costly and detrimental experiences” and a rollback.
There were speculations in Iran that Ahmadinejad, who headed the country for two terms from 2005 to 2013, is eyeing to participate in the upcoming election for a third term.
The presidential election is scheduled for May 29, 2017. The incumbent President Hassan Rouhani is expected to run for a second term.
Each of Rouhani’s four predecessors has held office for two consecutive terms.