IRNA head: "Liberals, rent-seeking sanctimonious people and economically corrupt persons have got united against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"

Iran's most official new agency backs Ahmadinejad:

Liberals, rent-seeking sanctimonious people and economically corrupt persons have got united against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the managing director of Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Addressing a gathering of sympathizers of the incumbent government, Mohammad Jafar Behdad added that although some people and inclinations against the popular government have emerged since the start of the electoral campaigns, the fact is that such an anti-government coalition was formed three years ago when they became confident that President Ahmadinejad was determined to serve te public and was firm in his stances on the bullying powers.

"If we analyze the electoral behaviors of some people and inclinations, we will see clearly that their problem with Ahmadinejad is his tough stances regarding public funds and safeguarding national assets against professional rent-seeking people," he contended.

Their main problem is that he has cut their hands off the public funds and they cannot receive huge loans or facilities they do not deserve, Behdad concluded.

So who are those "corrupt persons"? According to another IRNA headline, Ahmadinejad has declared "I will reveal names of corrupt people in TV debates":

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that he will declare the names of corrupt people in the country's economy during TV debates with his rivals in the upcoming presidential elections.
President Ahmadinejad made the remarks at a public meeting in Savojbolagh, Tehran province during the second round of his provincial tours.

These corrupt people have taken loans from banks and are not ready to repay their debts to the banking system, he said. [...]

He ended with something about those Z-people:

The enemies try to take revenge on Iranian nation because they are witnessing that the glorious achievement of this nation have broken the backbone of the Zionist regime and has defamed global arrogance worldwide, he said.

The Zionist entity's backbone may be broken, but a Press TV headline asks "Israel planting another war on Gaza?" Can you spot the mistake in the headline? I knew you could! They forgot to put the word "Israel" in scare quotes. ["Planting" has now been corrected to "planning"--YG] According to another Press TV headline, "Moussavi slams female fans' choice of dress":

Presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Moussavi lashes out at a group of female supporters whose support, he says, could sabotage his chances of winning the election.

The remarks were made after Iranian daily Jomhouri-Eslami launched into a tirade against certain female supporters of Moussavi who do not observe the country's hijab rules "properly".

"In recent days, a well-planned conspiracy has been developed by certain girls and women against Mir-Hossein Moussavi," an article in the daily read.

The report went on to say that these people with their "immoral acts" while holding photos of Moussavi wish to damage the presidential contender's reputation.

It played well in the Western Press, of course.

When asked about his take on the controversial appearance of the female supporters, Moussavi said he denounced their un-Islamic appearance.

"I respect Islamic values and believe such moves are aimed at damaging [my] reputation," he told the daily.

Earlier during a pre-election speech, Moussavi promised to work toward taking the moral police patrols off the streets if elected as president in Iran's June 12 poll.

In another recent story, "Ahmadinejad describes one of his saddest days" (This turns out to have an election-angle):

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the day his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, met with his French counterpart Jacque Chirac was the saddest day of his life.

"The day that the previous president under those circumstances visited France was one of the saddest days of my life," the incumbent president, who has on various occasions criticized Khatami for adopting a "naïve" approach towards the West, he told state radio on Wednesday.

"Jacque Chirac was standing on top of the stairs and Iran's former president … had to climb several flights of stairs to reach him, that kind of behavior is insulting to us," he said without directly naming Khatami in his speech.

In a prompt response to the remarks, the campaign of presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- who is supported by Khatami -- published pictures of the 2005 encounter between the two presidents while they both stood at the foot of the stairs of the Elysee palace in Paris. [...]

Here's the photo:


If only it could have been a happy picture! Like this:



Crossposted on Soccer Dad