Ahamdinejad likened to extremist group by Iranian MP

Iranian MP, Ali Motahari

Disputes between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian parliament continue as Ali Motahari, a conservative MP accused him of extremism today.

Ali Motahari told Soroush weekly magazine that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters are like the Furqan organization.

Furqan was a radical Islamist group that was responsible for the assassinations of 12 Islamic Republic figures up to 1980. The father of Ali Motahari, prominent political activist, Ayatollah Morteza Motahari was also assassinated by Furqan organization.

Ali Motahari described Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters as a group that “believes in an independent interpretation of Islam and do not subscribe to the clergy and sources of emulation.”

He added that the only reason the clergy is standing behind Ahmadinejad is because of the Supreme Leader.

Motahari went to say that the parliament has been “demeaned” by the government and insisted that “the parliament must show its independence.”

He criticized Ahmadinejad for his “self-centered” policies saying: “It is unprecedented and inappropriate that a president simply says I do not accept this law and will not execute it. This is a sign of despotism.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has disputed a 2 million dollar budget approved by the parliament for Tehran metro system. He claimed that the government has a budget for the foreign exchange reserves and cannot draw upon it for what the parliament has approved for the metro.

The disputes between Ahmadinejad and the parliament in the past year have even drawn comments from the Supreme Leader urging greater cooperation between the two branches of the government.