Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, greets his supporters during a religious ceremony marking the death of the Shiite Saint Jaafar Sadeq in Tehran on Saturday Oct, 25, 2008. Hasan Sarbakhshian / APIran President's 'Exhaustion' Stirs Speculation
Over Next Election -- L.A. Times
Over Next Election -- L.A. Times
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is ill due to overwork, says an associate. Observers downplay rumors that the president, who has many foes within Iran's ruling circle, is being forced out.
Reporting from Beirut -- Reports about the health of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have stirred speculation about whether the controversial populist will run again for the country's highest elected office next June.
In an interview published late Saturday by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, a close associate of Ahmadinejad said the president had fallen sick because of overwork and exhaustion.
"Every human being can face exhaustion under such a workload," lawmaker Mohammed Ismail Kowsari, an ally of Ahmadinejad, said. "The president will eventually get well and continue his job."
The exuberant and media-hungry Ahmadinejad, who turns 53 today, told a reporter in an interview aired Sunday night on state television that he was not ill. "Exhaustion is possible, but no illness," he said in remarks reported by the Associated Press.
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