TEHRAN - Iran's Supreme Leader called on the country's ruling elite on Monday to stop infighting, which he called a propaganda gift to the Islamic Republic's foreign enemies.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments were aimed at easing mounting criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who faces a possible summons to answer questions from a hostile conservative-dominated parliament, some of whose members have talked of impeaching him.
"We should try to reduce differences in opinions as much as possible," the 71-year-old cleric told a gathering of senior officers of the Revolutionary Guards in a televised address.
Infighting within the ruling elite has become more apparent since the government crushed opposition protests in the weeks and months after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June 2009, and have intensified over the last three months.
