Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke out against the Guardian Council’s disqualification of his chief advisor from the presidential race, saying: “I will pursue the matter until the last moment through the Supreme Leader.”
Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying: “I introduced Mr. Mashai and I know him… he has been wronged. But in a country where we have a Supreme Leader, no one’s rights will be compromised in such a manner.”
He urged his supporters and Esfandiar Rahim Mashai to show patience.
Meanwhile, Mashai has announced that he is prepared to challenge his disqualification and will go through the Supreme Leader to do so. His campaign headquarters has announced that it will use all legal avenues to achieve a reconsideration of the Guardian Council decision.
Ahmadinejad got into a number of disputes with the Supreme Leader in recent years, which led to deepening fissures between his camp and the conservative factions of the regime linked closely to Ayatollah Khamenei.
