Qom, 9 March (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad travelled to the holy Shiite city of Qom on Friday to meet leading ayatollahs and obtain their political backing. Ahmadinejad met grand ayatollahs Nasser Makarem Shirazi, Fazel Lankarani and Safi Gholpayeghani. The formal reason given for the trip was that the president wanted to brief religious authorities on domestic politics and upcoming foreign policy moves of the government. However, Friday's was the second trip in a month by the president to Qom, where he also travelled on 7 February, to meet leading conservative ayatollahs after recent criticism from clerics of his government. | "So, Mahmoud, tell us about this Ali Reza Asghari person." |
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