Iran's parliament summons Ahmadinejad for questioning

Feb 7, 2012, 12:22 GMT

Tehran - The Iranian parliament has summoned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning over a number of accusations, including his alleged mishandling of the economy, Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.

It is the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution that a president is summoned by parliament. The move comes one month before a parliamentary election.

The president has until March 8 to appear in parliament, the report said.

Parliament last year dropped plans to summon the president and decided instead to file written questions. However, lawmakers were not satisfied with his written answers and decided to go ahead with calling on him to appear in parliament.

The main dispute between the parliament and Ahmadinejad is his handling of economic issues.

Conservative lawmakers, who have a majority in parliament, also want to question the president over the alleged involvement of a parliamentary faction close to him in a 2.5 billion dollar embezzlement scandal.

Conservative lawmakers and clergymen have accused Ahmadinejad and his supporters of trying to undermine the country's Islamic establishment.

The conservatives also accuse Ahmadinejad and his supporters of using state assets to campaign for the March 2 parliamentary vote.

Ahmadinejad has rejected the accusations and says his critics are trying to tarnish his image ahead of the vote.