TEHRAN, Apr 28, 2011 (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has not appeared in public for more than a week, is to make a televised address to the nation within days, local media reported Thursday, citing an official.
“Ahmadinejad will speak to the nation next week, and his comments are going to please the friends of the revolution and despair the enemies of the regime,” several newspapers reported the vice-president in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajedini, as saying.
Mir-Tajedini’s comments however have not been confirmed by Iran’s state media, which have so far not commented on Ahmadinejad’s absence from public events.
The president has not been seen in public since April 22, when supreme leader Ali Khamenei overturned the resignation of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi, which was imposed by Ahmadinejad.
The rebuke and reinstatement of Moslehi has given rise to media reports of sharp differences between Ahmadinejad and his opponents, notably the ultra-conservatives who dominate parliament and thrive on Khamenei’s backing.
Several papers reported on Thursday that Ahmadinejad, who has already boycotted two ministerial council meetings, had cancelled a planned trip this week to Iran’s clerical nerve-centre city of Qom.
According to Fars news agency which is close to the regime’s hardliners, the conservative majority in the parliament met on Thursday morning with Majlis speaker Ali Larijani to discuss the situation, after hearing a report by a deputy who recently met with Ahmadinejad.
Fifty conservative lawmakers on Wednesday signed a petition demanding that Ahmadinejad appear before parliament.
