Iranian intelligence threatens Ahmadinejad with arrest

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has threatened former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he issued a statement accusing the Ministry of deliberately committing " espionage acts against Iranians".  The security ministry itself, which is now under the administration of Hasán Rohaní and headed by cleric Mahmoud Alawi, has replied to these accusations in the form of a warning after threatening to arrest the former leader if he does not retract his words.

According to a statement distributed by Iranian media, the Ministry described these accusations as "controversial statements that are directed against security" and added that they are "unrealistic" and not in line with the "current concerns of Iranians". However, these responses went further, with the Ministry itself promising Ahmadinejad that it would have "an appropriate response to his statements" as it would be acting " against security facts at the appropriate time".

Ahmadinejad has been excluded from the upcoming Iranian presidential elections, which are expected to be held on 18 June. In previous statements, Ahmadinejad had threatened that if the Guardian Council disqualified his candidacy, he would boycott the elections by encouraging non-participation in the voting. His warnings have come true. The former president continues to criticise Iranian Intelligence, calling the Ministry "a security gang affiliated with the regime" and claiming that security cameras had been installed in his home. Ahmadinejad has boasted that surveillance cameras should be installed in the secret nuclear warehouse in Turkuzabad "so that they do not come to steal the country's documents", as the space has suffered several attacks of which Israel is accused.
 

In April 2018, Netanyahu affirmed being in possession of the file on the Iranian nuclear project through an operation allegedly carried out by the Israeli security agency, the Mossad. However, Tehran firmly denied this and considered it to be Israeli propaganda. Similarly, the former president claimed that the Iranian security services are "a corrupt security group" and were responsible for "having generated widespread conflict in the country in 2009", referring to the popular protests that took place after the election results of that year that gave a controversial victory to the ultra-conservative Ahmadinejad.

At that point, a huge crowd of people challenged the ban to demonstrate in support of their perceived winner, the opposition politician Mir-Hossein Musaví. During these protests, a demonstrator named Behnan Taskor stated to El País that "Ahmadinejad has done us a great favour because he has allowed us to realise how many people we are and that we can organise ourselves". However, the protests failed to bring down the president, who was re-elected in an election that was accused of being fraudulent.

During his second term, the ultra-conservative politician was accused of various charges of corruption in his administration leading to the sentencing of several of his aides and deputies to up to 15 years in prison for financial corruption.
 

In 2017, a Supreme Audit Court prosecutor declared that Ahmadinejad faced punishment for 7 charges of misuse of public money, including corrupt acts of a total amount of $2 billion during his second term as president.

On 18 June, candidates Ali Larijani and Ebrahim Raisi, Rohaní´s main rival in the 2017 elections and the favourite candidate to be the next president, will compete for the new presidency. In addition, the conservative and religious leader has great influence in the country, managing and guarding the largest mosque in Iran.

Although more than 50 million Iranians have been called to the polls, political confrontations are expected to influence the low voter participation due to the social discontent with both the political and economic crises. However, the International Community, along with the countries of the region, will be paying close attention to the electoral results, as they could lead to a transcendental and profound change in the region's policy.