Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of embezzling from the state treasury, the reformist website Jras reported.

The Iranian president’s accusations, observers argue, indicate his refusal to become the scapegoat in the conflict currently going on between different parties in the conservative clique.

The accusations, in fact, came in response to attempts by the president’s opponents to lash out at him through tarnishing the image of his closest aides like his advisor and chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei and whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad’s son.

According to Jras, a delegation comprised of Deputy Judiciary Chief Ibrahim Raeisi, Minister of Intelligence and National Security Heydar Moslehi, and head of the General Inspection Organization Mostafa Pur-Mohammadi, all known to be pro-Khamenei, met with Ahmadinejad and demanded that he dismisses Mashaei.

Mashaei, they argued, is accused of embezzling two billion U.S. dollars and has to be put on trial.