A letter addressed by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for immediate free elections, drove on Thursday anger among both reformist and conservative circles, and revived disputes over falsification in the 2009 presidential elections.
Ahmadinejad’s open letter to Khamenei was published on the former president’s website Dolat-e Bahar on Feb. 21.
“An immediate and free presidential and parliamentary election, without the engineering of the Guardian Council and the interference of military and security institutions, is an urgent need,” Ahmadinejad wrote.
Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Kadkhodaei responded to the letter, accusing Ahmadinejad of attempting to “engineer” the 2009 elections by pressuring the council to announce final results before the watchdog body had fully reviewed complaints from losing candidates.
Kadkhodaei added that "the country has no need for elections right now because all elections are conducted in a legal and sustainable manner".
In Iran, parliamentary elections are due in 2020, and presidential elections in 2021.
Several deputies strongly lashed out on Thursday at Ahmadinejad and called on the ministries of Intelligence and Justice to question him.
Mohsen Kouhkan Rizi, an Iranian economist and conservative politician who represents Lenjan district in the Parliament, said on Thursday that “reaching high-ranking positions in the regime does not mean possessing an infinite immunity.”
Kouhkan added that some former presidents faced prosecutions, were isolated or put to death, in reference to Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the Islamic republic's first president.
For his part, former Deputy Culture Minister Mohammad Ali Ramin who was close to Ahmadinejad, published an article on his private “telegram” account saying that the former president “wishes to reap the fruits of the Revolution.”
In his letter, Ahmadinejad had called for ”fundamental reforms” in the executive, parliament and judiciary branches of government, as well as the office of the Supreme Leader.
