Close allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 
 
 Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns (spirits). 
 
 Ayandeh, an Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men, Abbas Ghaffari, as "a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds". 
 
 The arrests come amid a growing rift between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei which has prompted several MPs to call for the president to be impeached. 
 
 On Sunday, Ahmadinejad returned to his office after an 11-day walkout in an apparent protest over Khamenei's reinstatement of the intelligence minister, who the president had initiallyasked to resign. 
 
 Ahmadinejad's unprecedented disobedience prompted harsh criticism from conservatives who warned that he might face the fate of Abdulhassan Banisadr, Iran's first post-revolution president who was impeached and exiled for allegedly attempting to undermine clerical power. 
 
 Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a hardline cleric close to Khamenei, warned that disobeying the supreme leader – who has the ultimate power in Iran – is equivalent to "apostasy from God". 
 
 Ahmadinejad has so far declined to officially back Khamenei's ruling over Heydar Moslehi, the minister at the centre of the row. In the first cabinet meeting since the president returned, Moslehi was absent. 
 
 Khamenei's supporters believe that the top-level confrontation stems from the increasing influence of Mashaei, an opponent of greater involvement of clerics in politics, who is being groomed by Ahmadinejad as a possible successor. 
 
 But the feud has taken a metaphysical turn following the release of an Iranian documentary alleging the imminent return of the Hidden Imam Mahdi – the revered saviour of Shia Islam, whose reappearance is anticipated by believers in a manner comparable to that with which Christian fundamentalists anticipate the second coming of Jesus. 
 
 Conservative clerics, who say that the Mahdi's return cannot be predicted, have accused a "deviant current" within the president's inner circle, including Mashaei, of being responsible for the film. 
 
 Ahmadinejad's obsession with the hidden imam is well known. He often refers to him in his speeches and in 2009 said that he had documentary evidence that the US was trying to prevent Mahdi's return. 
 
 Since Ahmadinejad's return this week, at least 25 people, who are believed to be close to Mashaei, have been arrested. Among them is Abbas Amirifar, head of the government's cultural committee and some journalists of Mashaei's recently launched newspaper, Haft-e-Sobh. 
 
 On Saturday, Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei's deputy representative in the powerful Revolutionary Guard, said: "Today Mashaei is the actual president. Mr Ahmadinejad has held on to a decaying rope by relying on Mashaei." ||||| Iran MPs 'urge Ahmadinejad to end boycott' 
 
 TEHRAN — Iranian lawmakers have called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to end an eight-day boycott and accept the supreme leader's decision to reinstate the intelligence minister, Shargh newspaper reported on Saturday. 
 
 More than 216 conservatives out of the parliament's 290 MPs wrote a letter to Ahmadinejad after an "extraordinary" meeting on Thursday, urging him to accept the reinstatement of Heydar Moslehi, the report said quoting Tehran MP Reza Akrami. 
 
 "You are expected to adhere to the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and put an end to that which our enemies are taking advantage of," the lawmakers wrote. 
 
 The all-powerful Khamenei reinstated Moslehi despite Ahmadinejad having reportedly forced his resignation, only minutes after it was made public on April 17. 
 
 The interference sparked a row within the regime's leadership, leading to Ahmadinejad's withdrawal from public view as well as cabinet meetings since April 22, and the cancellation of a visit to Qom, the Shiite clerical city. 
 
 The absence is unusual for the hardline president, who is ubiquitous in the media and is also known for his near daily public appearances and speeches. 
 
 The crisis seems to have been aggravated by accusations from ultra-conservatives that Ahmadinejad's close aide and chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, was the one who forced Moslehi's ouster. 
 
 Ahmadinejad's opponents have rallied against Mashaie, whom the president has staunchly defended, accusing him of leading a "current of deviation" aimed at destroying the Islamic regime. 
 
 But Khamenei on Saturday urged state officials to refrain from actions which would give excuse to "the enemy and create a tumult" for the country, in remarks broadcast by state television. 
 
 "(When) a tiny lack of coordination appears, the country is harmed," he said. 
 
 "If the lack of coordination is wide and the enemies are made aware of them, (the enemies) create an uproar. They revel. They rejoice when an atmosphere of challenge and confrontation comes to light" in the country. 
 
 Khamenei's remarks came a day after his deputy representative in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, accused Mashaie of driving the crisis, and advised the president to distance himself from his close ally. 
 
 "Today Mashaie is the actual president. Mr Ahmadinejad has held on to a decaying rope (by relying on) Mr Mashaie... I hope that God will rid the president from the evil of this person," he was quoted as saying by various papers on Saturday. 
 
 As official media continue their blackout on the crisis, Ahmadinejad's chief media adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, wrote on his website Friday that the president was very "concerned" that if he bowed to pressure, his "achievements" would be lost. 
 
 But he also stated Ahmadinejad would "eventually" return to work and put the issue behind him. 
 
 His remarks were echoed later on Saturday by Tehran lawmaker Fatemeh Aliya after her two-hour meeting with Ahmadinejad, saying the president would "continue his work". 
 
 "The president has explanations (for his boycott) which he will soon offer" to the people, she was quoted as telling Borna news agency, an offshoot of the state news agency IRNA. 
 
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– The power struggle between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is getting more intense—and a lot weirder. Several people close to Ahmadinejad and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being magicians and summoning genies, reports the Guardian. Ahmadinejad has faced harsh criticism from religious conservatives since he returned to work after going AWOL for 11 days because of a disagreement with Khamenei. The feud appears to stem from reactions to unrest in the Arab world, notes the Washington Post. Khamenei and other religious leaders favor retrenchment, while Ahmadinejad and his circle are believed to favor outreach. Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chosen successor, has made efforts to open lines of communication with Washington in recent months, sources say. Tensions have further increased with the release of a documentary that claims that Hidden Imam Mahdi, Shia Islam's savior, is about to return. Senior clerics allege that a "perverted team" among Ahmadinejad's inner circle is responsible for the film.