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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Reuters)
Last update - 21:35 26/10/2008
Ahmadinejad denies reports he has become ill due to exhaustion
By News Agencies
Tags: Iran, Israel News 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday he was healthy, countering reports suggesting he was ill and suffering from exhaustion, and that his political future could be threatened.

Ahmadinejad, who was elected president in 2005, has not said whether he will seek a second term in the June 2009 presidential race but is widely expected to run.

Asked on state television about his health, he said: "We are human like all others and catch colds. No, I am not ill."
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A member of parliament and close associate of Ahmadinejad, Mohammed Ismail Kowsari, told the official news agency IRNA on Saturday that some websites had spread rumors about Ahmadinejad's health and had suggested it could harm his chances of running for president again.

"Any human might come down with weakness as a result of workload and pressure. This is something natural," Kowsari said, adding that those who used such a "psychological ploy" of spreading rumors would fail.

The president has been criticized for surging inflation which has hit 29 percent and now faces the added challenge of tumbling oil prices, which are cutting into Iran's main source of revenue.


Late Saturday, Kowsari told IRNA that Ahmadinejad was feeling under the weather because of the strain of his position, saying "the president will eventually get well and continue his job."

Kowsari accompanied Ahmadinejad last month to the United Nations General Assembly. "Every human being can face exhaustion under such a workload," he added.

He gave no further details about the state of the president's health.

Ahmadinejad, who rarely misses meetings and public appearances, canceled a speech Wednesday, at a conference and did not appear at a Cabinet meeting the same day. But the president, who turns 53 on Monday, did attend a religious ceremony on Saturday in Tehran, though he looked tired as he greeted supporters.

On Sunday, state TV also showed him receiving credentials from three foreign ambassadors.

In recent weeks, some supporters of Ahmadinejad have been discussing potential candidates for the June 2009 election, implying that the sitting president is not their automatic choice.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, every Iranian president has been re-elected to a second term, except the first one, Abolhasan Banisadr, who fled the country in 1981.

The months ahead are critical for Ahmadinejad if he wants to try to rebuild his political base and rebut critics who point to his unfulfilled campaign promises, including extending Iran's oil revenues to poorer provinces around the country. With more than 10 percent unemployment and 30 percent inflation, Iran was unable to bask in record-high oil prices earlier this year.

Criticism over his management of the country has increasingly come from his erstwhile conservative backers.

Ahmadinejad is also confronting questions about his uncompromising stance with the West over Iran's nuclear program, which has severely soured international relations. The UN has also placed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

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      1.   weres my dinner dad 09:21  |  Michael 26/10/08
      2.   Ahmadinejad is ill 09:23  |  Roxy 26/10/08
      3.   Goodbye Mahmoud And Don`t Come Back 09:59  |  Yosemite 26/10/08
      4.   ahmedinajad 11:04  |  crazyed 26/10/08
      5.   And by "ill" they mean... 11:17  |  Israeli 26/10/08
      6.   Sleepy prez 11:37  |  Charles Smyth 26/10/08
      7.   Is the falling price of oil an illness? 12:01  |  Realist 26/10/08
      8.   was ther ever any doubt that he was mentally ill ? 12:18  |  victor hardman 26/10/08
      9.   Kremlinology 12:29  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 26/10/08
      10.   cause of his illness 12:41  |  M.D. 26/10/08
      11.   Ahmad falls ill.... 12:46  |  Esther 26/10/08
      12.   I BELIEVE 12:48  |  indrajaya 26/10/08
      13.   The result of non violence advocates and extreme left militants 12:50  |  Jean Van Daem 26/10/08
      14.   Ahmadinejad: Would it make any difference either way? 13:11  |  Natallie Durson 26/10/08
      15.   Ahmadinejad falls ill 13:25  |  Meir 26/10/08
      16.   indrajaya #12 -- now is the time to remind you... 14:01  |  bbl 26/10/08
      17.   aw it`s all that heavy threatening that does it 14:35  |  sob 26/10/08
      18.   He and Nasrullah have the same friends 14:36  |  sob 26/10/08
      19.   Let worry his veterinarian. Arafat, N/allah and 15:03  |  17 26/10/08
      20.   # 12 Indrajaya 15:20  |  Angus 26/10/08
      21.   Best wishes for Ahmedinejad! 16:00  |  Tulip 26/10/08
      22.   Just a theory 16:12  |  ScotGuy 26/10/08
      23.   Israel Stay Alert 16:17  |  Yosemite 26/10/08
      24.   `bout time 16:34  |  Rav Harley 26/10/08
      25.   ah-mad-inejad been kissing too many men? 16:36  |  yahn goodey 26/10/08
      26.   It is all Israel`s fault! 16:50  |  MichaelF 26/10/08
      27.   Heavy workload? lol 17:29  |  Nick 26/10/08
      28.   And this time? 18:24  |  Mr Ipp 26/10/08
      29.   million dollar smile 19:17  |  don 26/10/08
      30.   "Exhaustion"? 19:27  |  Outraged 26/10/08
      31.   Mr.Ahmadinejad and the pressure cooker. 20:03  |  Stephen. 26/10/08
      32.   Hitler: does it make any difference? 20:28  |  Israeli citizen 26/10/08
      33.   Mahmoud, come to Israel for a nice rest..... 20:48  |  Gershon 26/10/08
      34.   Great news , the clown has to go . 21:10  |  TOMY 26/10/08
      35.   #12 indrajaya the prophet from Indonesia 21:15  |  TOMY 26/10/08
      36.   Medical treatment in Israel? 22:02  |  Realist 26/10/08
      37.   Hamsters Don`t Live That Long 22:04  |  Yosemite 26/10/08
      38.   A LA DURSON #14 22:14  |  joe 26/10/08
      39.   INDRAJAYA #12 22:17  |  joe 26/10/08
      40.   Ahmadienjad.......Durson 22:58  |  The Teacher/Instruct 26/10/08
      41.   AHMEDINAJIHADI, BROTHER, NOW I`M RELIEVED MYSELF 23:19  |  indrajaya 26/10/08
      42.   Ahmiwhackad must be sick from the price of oil going down to $60 23:22  |  Genuine Tosefta 26/10/08
      43.   why even post that? 23:23  |  Northern 26/10/08
      44.   My Dinner Jacket 23:23  |  Jasper 26/10/08
      45.   We have seen this case before... 23:25  |  Brendan 26/10/08
      46.   G-d Would Have Blessed Him If He Spent 20Hrs/Day Helping The ... 23:53  |  Lavi 26/10/08
      47.   G-d Would Have Blessed Him If He Spent 20Hrs/Day Helping The ... 00:16  |  Lavi 27/10/08
      48.   G-D Willing may he choke on his poisoned words against Jews 01:03  |  PK 27/10/08
      49.   The classic Greek diagnosis 01:06  |  Mark Lincoln 27/10/08
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