Some thought Khamenehi was intervening to support the president, against the Majlis while others said he was intervening to back the Majlis against the president.
But Khamenehi was critical of both sides and directed each to back down and restore peace. Clearly, Khamenehi feels the in-house brawl has gone too far and endangers the regime.
While many outsiders often think they see Khamenehi backing one group against another, it has been the norm in the Islamic Republic, ever since Ayatollah Khomeini was the Supreme Leader, to try to maintain a balance within the family so as to preserve stability.
On Sunday, Khamenehi met with Majlis deputies and calmly told them that it was essential that they put the good of the country ahead of their own factional interests.
As per usual, he raised the threat of the Islamic Republic’s foreign enemies taking advantage of internal divisions and directed them to unify all political currents and make certain that differences of opinion do not develop into a violent struggle.
He spoke of the post-election protests of 2009 as an example of taking differences too far. “Even if we look at those events in the best light, the greatest sin and undeniable sin of the seditionists [the Green opposition] was that they allowed their doubts to turn into a great challenge to the system, which in turn became an attack against the regime and the country.”
He then very clearly endorsed a key criticism the Majlis has had of the president—but immediately afterward firmly endorsed Ahmadi-nejad’s presidency.
First, he said the president must obey all legislation passed by the Majlis and approved as constitutional by the Council of Guardians. Ahmadi-nejad—who does not have veto authority under Iran’s Constitution—has several times simply ignored Majlis enactments, refusing to publish the laws in the official Gazette, as he is required to do. Khamenehi came down firmly behind the Majlis on that point. “When a law is passed, the government must implement it in full and without any excuse,” Khamenehi said.
But, having said that, Khamenehi then said, “While there are some weaknesses and problems, the composition of the executive branch is good and appropriate and the government is working. The government and Majlis must help each other.”
Khamenehi’s speech to the deputies was broadcast on state television.
In case there was any doubt what Khamenehi meant, Majlis Deputy Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, who was just elected first deputy speaker last week and who has often been a critic of Ahmadi-nejad, told his fellow deputies: “The Supreme Leader wants the government to continue its work to the end of its term [in August 2013] with serenity and on a natural course. It is not in the national interest for the government to be weakened. But it is necessary for the government to gradually distance itself from the deviant current.”
That last point was not in Khamenehi’s speech. It was added by Bahonar. The “deviant current” is a term that has arisen in recent weeks to refer to Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, the president’s closest aide, and other presidential buddies. Bahonar was thought to be signaling that he and his band of allies will lay off the government and Ahmadi-nejad but will continue to assail Rahim-Mashai and other targets around Ahmadi-nejad, hitting at the president by indirection.