Iranian President Ahmadinejad appears at cabinet meeting after days of absence

Iranian President Ahmadinejad appears at cabinet meeting after days of absence

2011-05-02 00:22:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday appeared at a cabinet meeting following days of absence from his official duties, state-run media reported.

The state-run Press TV and Fars news agency both reported that Ahmadinejad attended the meeting on Sunday, following speculation in Western media on Saturday that an internal power struggle could be underway.

Ahmadinejad had not been seen at his office for more than a week, missing two cabinet meetings and canceling a visit to the holy city of Qom, according to the BBC. It followed a decision by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to reject the resignation of intelligence minister Heyder Moslehi, whose resignation was earlier accepted by Ahmadinejad.

In Iran, the country's Supreme Leader is more powerful than Ahmadinejad or any other Iranian official, and Khamenei's decision to overrule the president was an embarrassment for the leader, indicating a possible power struggle.

But Press TV called such reports a "Western media campaign" against Iran. "Ahmadinejad disappointed the enemies who were hoping to create differences [in the] nation (by showing up at the meeting)," Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Ezzatollah Zarghami was cited as saying.

According to the Fars news agency, Ahmadinejad has renewed his allegiance to the supreme leader, indicating he would resume his official duties. Other details were not released.

Ahmadinejad has been president of Iran since August 2005 after he won the presidential elections with 62 percent of the vote in a run-off poll against former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He was re-elected in 2009 with 62 percent of the vote, but it led to widespread unrest amid claims of fraud.

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