The insulting article was written by mid-ranking cleric Rasoul Montajab-Nia who listed several comments attributed to Ahmadinejad on the twelfth imam, known as the Mahdi, who Shiites believe disappeared more than a thousand years ago and will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony. Ahmadinejad and his advisors have frequently said that his government is managed by the imam. Such fictitious and ridiculous rumours weaken the people's faith and lead to ridicule of Shiite Islam. Ahmadinejad has always been a devotee of the Mahdi, and he has already come under fire by clerics over his remarks. Ahmadinejad also raised eyebrows when he said he felt surrounded by a mystical aurora when he gave his first speech to the UN General Assembly in New York in 2005.

Earlier this year, Iran's former top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani complained that superstition was growing in the country and that people were even putting out food for the Mahdi in case he returned that very night.

The Etemad Melli party is headed by influential reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi, who was Iran's parliament speaker from 2000 to 2004 and a rival of Ahmadinejad’s in the 2005 presidential election.