Al-Monitor | Fereshteh Sadeghi: On May 29, Iranian law enforcement officers along with staff from the presidency confiscated a building in east Tehran used by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad�s bodyguards. In response, the former president�s office issued a statement putting the responsibility for any potential harm to Ahmadinejad on the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, the judiciary and the�Ansar-ul-Mahdi Corps, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) unit tasked with protecting top officials�including presidents, judiciary chiefs, parliament speakers and lawmakers.�Ansar-ul-Mahdi�

On the same night, Ahmadinejad�s office also launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for a new office for his bodyguards. It said that in response to �increasing calls from across the country,� it was introducing a joint bank account under the names of Ahmadinejad and his former vice president, Hamid Baghaei, for public donations. Of note, Baghaei and Ahmadinejad both registered to run in the May 19 presidential elections ��and both failed to gain the Guardian Council�s approval.

Amid the ongoing controversy, the Reformist Etemaad Daily on June 1 cited the presidential administration office as saying that the building in question was state property and seized after three years of illegal use by Ahmadinejad�s security team.


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