Ahmadinejad aide accused of seeking U.S. contacts, Shargh says

Bloomberg: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s closest political aide was accused by a group that backs Iran’s supreme leader of trying to establish contacts with the U.S. and its intelligence services, the Shargh newspaper reported. 

Bloomberg

By Ladane Nasseri

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s closest political aide was accused by a group that backs Iran’s supreme leader of trying to establish contacts with the U.S. and its intelligence services, the Shargh newspaper reported.

The latest accusations against Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a relative of Ahmadinejad, were made by Hossein Fadaei, head of the Society of Islamic Revolution Devotees, according to the Tehran-based newspaper. A “current of deviation” now exists in Iran that is aimed at controlling key posts in the economy and changing anyone who refuses to submit to it, the privately owned Shargh cited Fadaei as saying.

“Current of deviation” is the term coined in recent days by Mashaei’s opponents to define an ideological movement that they say he initiated and that is detrimental to the Islamic establishment under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top religious figure in Iran and the final arbiter on the affairs of state.

Political figures loyal to the leadership system have criticized Mashaei as being too liberal and having too much influence over Ahmadinejad. Mashaei’s daughter is married to the president’s son.