(Image source: 4unews)

BY MIKKEL NOEL LANZKY

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be summoned by the Iranian parliament to answer questions about a growing scandal of banking fraud. Al Jazeera lays it out:

“Politicians want to question the President about the biggest banking scandal in the country’s history; a $2.6 bn fraud case that was discovered in September, involving top government officials including this man, the economy minister Shamsaddin Hosseini, who has already been found guilty of failing to take action.”

More than 30 arrests have been made so far in the case. And, as NPR reports, the fight over assigning the blame has begun with supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claiming the fraud has ties to the President’s camp:

“The link, according to the Khamenei camp, is the president's chief adviser, Rahim Mashaei . […] The argument is that he is somehow responsible and that the president's office is responsible, although no one has yet accused Ahmadinejad."

It will be the first time an Iranian president is ordered before Parliament, after the required quarter of MPs signed a petition to summon Ahmadinejad. According to the Australian, the Parliament has a bone to pick with Ahmadinejad:

“The MPs are certain to want Mr Ahmadinejad to face that humiliation. Last year, he was accused of illegally importing oil and petrol worth £5.6 billion, and raiding the foreign-currency reserves of the central bank. MPs were outraged earlier this year when he sacked three ministers, including Massoud Mirkazemi, the Oil Minister and an ally of the Supreme Leader.”

Ahmadinejad’s current troubles are widely seen as the latest bout in the President’s escalating struggle against Khamenei. Earlier this month, the Ayatollah hinted at abolishing the office of the President. A blogger on NOW Lebanon notes that:

“Khamenei’s unexpected proposal may be explained partly by recent tensions between parliament and President Ahmadinejad over several issues. […] The Supreme Leader still has final authority, but the president has remained a rival centre of power.”

Ahmadinejad’s term expires in August 2013 and analysts are seeing the tumultuous Iranian politics as a sign that the political factions are maneuvering to secure their positions of power. As Al Arabiya tells us:

“The fundamentalist movement in Iran close to […] Ali Khamenei, has criticized president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his close circle, referring to it as ‘the perverted team,’ of planning a military coup in a bid to take full control of the country.”

Ahmadinejad himself will likely emerge relatively unscathed from the fraud debacle, as no accusations have been leveled at him personally, but the more supporters he loses to scandal, the harder it will be for him to influence who his successor will be.


Transcript by Newsy.