Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a letter to the interior minister asking for a permit to hold a protest gathering in Tehran.
The letter published on Mr. Ahmadinejad’s Telegram channel says the gathering will be in protest to “Policies and performance of officials and the way the country is managed by different branches” of the state.
In his letter, Ahmadinejad asks the interior minister Andolreza Rahmani Fazli, not to look for excuses to refuse the permit", for the protest, which is an “inalienable right”.
It seems the former president expects his request to be rejected and attacks the minister before even having an answer to his letter.
The Islamic Republic rarely issues a permit for non-regime gatherings and if a protest starts, authorities can always clamp down by arguing that it was an illegal action.
Ahmadinejad further argued that if a permit is not granted it would be “an obvious crime and loss of legitimacy” for the interior minister.
Ahmadinejad has requested a permit for January 20, for the gathering to take place at Enghelab (Revolution) Square.
Since leaving office in 2013, Ahmadinejad has turned into an opposition activist, even criticizing the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and periodically attacking the performance of top officials.
His relations with the country's Larijani brothers who head both the parliament and the Judiciary is particularly tense.
