(Photo by Ali Hassanpour)

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is seeking a second term blasted his electoral rivals on Saturday for their strong criticism on his administration and challenged them to make their cases to the public for better judgment.
Addressing a press conference he said that according to the election law the aspirants are not allowed to defame one another should respect the laws of the land, Mehr News Agency reported.
“I didn’t like to respond to the recent charges against my government, but I think I have to open up to the people,“ he said.
He added that “I refrained from responding to their allegations in the past four years because I thought it was against our national interest and would hinder the government from serving the nation. However, I will respond appropriately to the charges in the TV debates.“
Ahmadinejad complained that “these people (his rivals) think they left the country free of problems for my administration. The performance of the incumbent administration is clear and he is ready to compare his performance with those of his predecessors, he told the reporters.
The incumbent president, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, former Parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and SEC Secretary Mohsen Rezaei are contesting the June 12 vote. More than 46 million Iranians are now eligible to vote.

All three rivals of Ahmadinejad have strongly criticized his domestic and foreign policies.

Maladroit Policy
On Thursday Mousavi singled out Ahmadinejad’s ’maladroit foreign policy’, saying it has cost the Iranian nation dearly.
In a meeting with supporters he claimed that the president’s “confrontational foreign policy“ has not only damaged Iran’s world standing, but has further resulted in the country’s isolation across the globe.
“Iranians are paying a heavy price for the government’s foreign policy mismanagement,“ said Mousavi. “But then again, how can a government deal with its foreign policy affairs when it can’t even manage its internal issues?“
He said President Ahmadinejad’s decision to dissolve a number of semi-independent state entities -- such as Management and Planning Organization (MPO) and the Credit and Money Council (CMC) -- “testifies his maladministration.“
Before its disestablishment, MPO was a relatively independent 60-year-old body which was in charge of allocating the national budget.