After months of verbal clashes in Iran between former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given a speech harshly criticizing Ahmadinejad.

In recent months, Ahmadinejad and conservative Amoli Larijani have been accusing each other of various things. Ahmadinejad has indirectly alleged that the daughter of Larijani is spying for foreign intelligence services. He has also been releasing videos calling for Amoli Larijani's resignation.

It should be noted that following Khamenei’s public “advice” to Ahmadinejad not to run in the May 2017 presidential election, he defied it and decided to register as a candidate anyway. He was ultimately disqualified by the Guardian Council, which is tasked with vetting candidates. After this incident, tensions between the former president and the Iranian political establishment gradually rose.

In a meeting with members of the Council of Coordination on Islamic Propagation on Dec. 27, Khamenei addressed Ahmadinejad indirectly, saying, “Those who had all the country’s facilities under their control and those who had the countries’ management facilities under their control aren’t entitled to play the role of opposition and talk against the country; rather, they should be responsive [now].”