TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's hardline president sharply criticized his rivals in parliament Monday for seeking to curb his powers to appoint the central bank governor.
The attack by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the latest sign of strains over the country's faltering economy, which rivals have accused the president of mismanaging. Iran recently lifted subsidies on food and fuel that sent prices soaring, perhaps a sign that multiple rounds of international sanctions over the country's disputed nuclear program are taking a toll on the economy.
New legislation approved in November by the conservative-dominated parliament requires approval of the legislature for appointing the central bank governor. The legislation has been blocked by a powerful constitutional watchdog called the Guardian Council, which needed to approve it to become law. The council deemed it violated the constitution.
Ahmadinejad unleashed a biting attack on rivals Monday including the parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, an adversary within his own conservative camp, over the legislation. He accused those behind the legislation of trampling the constitution and manipulating presidential powers.
"Unfortunately, the parliament's management ... insists on revoking legal powers of the executive branch and intervening in affairs such as appointing or dismissing executive officials," Ahmadinejad said in a letter, according to state media reports.
Ahmad Tavakoli, a conservative lawmaker, said Ahmadinejad's comments were an attempt to divert attention from his mismanagement of the economy.
"Such an attack ... is a pretext to hide social woes and overshadow serious economic weaknesses especially in the production sector whose problems are exacerbated day by day," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying.
The legislation has now been referred to the Expediency Council, an advisory body to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that is tasked with arbitrating disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council.
The Expediency Council is chaired by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ahmadinejad's bitter enemy. The body said it has made no final decision but pro-government media have accused it of already siding with the parliament.
Ahmadinejad also lashed out at the Expediency Council.
"Also, the management of the Expediency Council has tried to manipulate the (presidential) powers stipulated in the constitution. ... It is an open heresy that includes a change in the constitution."
Rafsanjani has not directly responded. But his younger brother Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani told The Associated Press Monday that the council was still studying the issue.
"The Expediency Council has made no final decision yet. The issue is still being studied by experts," he said. "Ahmadinejad is free to speak his mind. We don't mind."
Conservative lawmaker Mohammad Hossein Farhangi said Ahmadinejad needed to attend the Expediency Council and defend his government instead of criticizing it.
The president is a member of the council but Ahmadinejad has not attended its meetings after the disputed 2009 presidential election, apparently a political decision not to give credibility to the Rafsanjani-run council.
Rafsanjani tacitly supported Ahmadinejad's rival and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in Iran's bitter dispute over the 2009 presidential elections. Ahmadinejad in turn accused Rafsanjani and his sons of corruption, charges that were never proved. Rafsanjani condemned Ahmadinejad's accusations as "a whole set of lies."
The opposition says its leader Mousavi won the vote and that Ahmadinejad was re-elected through massive vote fraud.
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