Senior Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi has criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's attempts to deflect blame from his government, saying people would hate a government that tries to justify its shortcomings and attributes laudable characteristics to itself.

Makarem-Shirazi said on Wednesday that justifying, projecting problems and not shouldering responsibility would only increase people’s dissatisfaction, adding that, “We should admit to weaknesses and say that we are planning reforms.”

Makarem-Shirazi said the country is facing complicated problems particularly in the field of economy, adding that ignoring problems is a mistake and would anger people.

The steep rise of foreign currencies in Iran and devaluation of the national currency, the rial, have led to a serious crisis in the country’s economy and resulted in clashes between people and security forces in central Tehran on Wednesday.

In an interview on Tuesday, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the unprecedented plunge in the value of rial on international sanctions and also on local speculators and non-authorized money exchangers.