Allegations of corruption against senior leaders of Iran’s system were long considered taboo but have now become a recurring theme of the president’s speeches. Such allegations are popular with ordinary Iranians, many of whom have long accused top clerics of accumulating wealth through their influential positions.
This month Ahmadinejad spoke to about 500 campaign officials in one of Tehran’s most prestigious political venues, a witness said. In his speech, he warned of an unavoidable confrontation between him and his opponents, who he said “go on vacation for three months with filled wallets.”
He accused his opponents of being poor people “who turned into billionaires” through corruption. The speech was supposed to be off the record but was published in part by the Web site dolatema.com, which supports Ahmadinejad’s government but is blocked in Iran, a sign of the increasing pressures on the president.
“The people’s pain and dissatisfaction is because of those who claim to support the supreme leader,” he said.
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