Iran’s supreme leader blocks Ahmadinejad’s comeback

Iran’s firebrand former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  was told frankly by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not to try and run for reelection next year, according to state news agency IRNA.  “He (Ahmadinejad) came to me and I told him not to stand as I think it is not in his interest and that of the country," Khamenei was quoted as saying. His removal from the contest eliminates a major challenger to pragmatist incumbent Hassan Rouhani.