Majlis Calls Off Motion to Summon Ahmadinejad

The Iranian parliament, Majlis, today called off a motion to summon President Ahmadinejad to answer MP’s questions regarding the recent banking scandal and concerns over what MPs had termed as president’s disregard of laws passed by the legislative body. The motion had been sponsored by 100 conservative members of Majlis, but was withdrawn under heavy pressure from the speaker. Some parliamentarians had raised their own concerns that questioning the president would weaken the government during a time of heightened tensions with the US over an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington and the expected tightening of economic sanctions against the country.