Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused a "corrupt ring" inside Iran's intelligence apparatus of maintaining "a systematic link" with foreign espionage agencies.

"They have to brace for trials," Ahmadinejad, who served as head of state from 2005-2013, warned the group, without naming its members. But the former president left more than enough signs in his video message that "the ring" in question was within the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In recent months, the once conservative politician favored by the ruling elite, who is now seen as a dissident, has not shied away from revealing his frictions with the intelligence agency as well as the entire hard-line ruling establishment.

Ahmadinejad stated that the group was "committing treason by carrying out espionage" for enemies. Only in April, after Iran's key Natanz nuclear site came under an Israel-blamed attack, Ahmadinejad told a cheering crowd of supporters in the southern city of Bandar Abbas of how "the enemy's agents have infiltrated" the intelligence apparatus. In his fiery speech, he noted that Iran's intelligence has been fixating on its own ordinary people by cracking down on their popular protests.

Picking up on the same line in his new speech, Ahmadinejad once again pointed the finger of blame toward the same group for suppressing the "legitimate demands" of the ongoing demonstrations in Khuzestan province. The rallies by the Arab-majority region over a worsening water crisis have now entered their eighth consecutive day. Activists say at least five people have been killed while IRGC-linked media blame Arab separatist groups for the killings and accuse "foreign enemies" of exploiting the demonstrations.