Iran’s Supreme Leader has warned the heads of government branches and senior national officials to avoid disputes, emphasizing that those who try to create divisions as the elections approach “are traitors.”
Ayatollah Khamenei met with a group of students in the lead-up to the November 4 anniversary of the occupation of the U.S. embassy, which is also National Students’ Day in Iran. He touched on the controversial topic of the recent correspondence between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the head of the judiciary, saying: “I warn the head of the government branches and officials to keep to their own duties. Writing letters is of no significance; however, they must take care that minor issues do not feed the publicity-hungry foreign media.”
The recently publicized correspondence between Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Larijani put the spotlight on the head of the judiciary’s refusal to allow Ahmadinejad to visit Evin Prison, where the president’s senior press aide is serving a six-month jail term.
Ahmadinejad’s critics have said the president should concentrate on the pressing economic issues facing the country rather than try to find a way to visit Evin Prison.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: “From today till the day of the elections, anyone who tries to play on the public sensibilities to create divisions is definitely committing treason.”
Iran’s presidential elections are slated for June 2013.
