Iranian MPs question Ahmadinejad, say are not convinced with answers

TEHRAN, March 14 (MNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared before the parliament on Wednesday to answer MPs’ questions about certain irregularities. However, some MPs who had signed the motion to question the president said they were not convinced with the answers and some described the president’s remarks insulting. The questions centered around the administration’s failure to fully disburse the funds allocated for the Tehran Metro, poor implementation of the subsidy reform plan, the dismissal of the former foreign minister while on a diplomatic mission in Senegal, and the president’s support for the promotion of the Iranian school of thought instead of the Islamic school of thought and his support for the deviant current. According to the parliamentary approval the government had to allocate 2 billion dollars from the national reserve fund for development of metro in Tehran and other large cities. However, the president claimed “no money is left” from the fund to finance metro projects. On the recent price hikes, the president said these are not related to the subsidy reform plan and that there are other reasons for sudden price rises. “The reason behind these inflations is something else which I will explain about it at a proper time,” Ahmadinejad said. The decision to summon the president to the Majlis was made on February 7 after MPs were not convinced by the answers provided by the president’s representatives at a meeting held to discuss the reasons behind irregularities by the administration.