During the heated power struggle in Iran, individuals close to president Mahmoud Ahmandinejad and chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei have reportedly been arrested and charged with using magic and enlisting the help of Djinn (genies) to aid the administration. From The Guardian:
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 feud (between Ahmadinejad and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamene) 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.
“Ahmadinejad allies charged with sorcery“