TEHRAN, Aug 24: Iran’s supreme leader was quoted on Sunday as praising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for “standing up to” the West in a dispute over the country’s nuclear programme, amid growing domestic criticism of the president’s policies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered unusually glowing praise for Ahmadinejad, who upon his election in 2005 sparked a confrontation with the West by resuming uranium enrichment. The country’s spiritual leader has rarely, if ever, expressed such support for any other Iranian politician.

Ahmadinejad is facing a firestorm of criticism at home, particularly over his handling of the economy.

Ahmadinejad’s government has helped “revive” the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution, state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying at a cabinet meeting on Saturday.—AP