Ahmadinejad vs Iranian judiciary

Trouble continues to brew inside Iran. The ordinarily supine Attorney-General, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, has defied Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by preventing him from visiting an imprisoned aide.

Ahmadinejad is viewed as having acted against the country’s powerful clerical establishment, with whom Ejehi is closely aligned. Indeed, Ahmadinejad’s aide is currently being detained over charges of publishing material which ‘offends’ Islamic norms. He is just one of a dozen political allies close to Ahmadinejad to have found themselves arrested as relations between the political and clerical authorities become increasingly strained.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad continues to bluster about ‘external enemies’. State media reported that Iranian Special Forces are busy training for the possibility of a Western attack, but only published pictures (here) of troops grappling with protesters in a training exercise.

As the Iranian economy continues to stall, this is the real fear gripping Ahmadinejad’s government. Ejehi warned him of as much, advising Ahmadinejad his time would be better spent addressing the economy than visiting prisoners.