TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fallen ill due to his heavy workload, a close associate told the Iranian state news agency late Saturday.
Parliament member Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, a close ally of the president, told IRNA that Ahmadinejad is feeling under the weather because of the strain of his position.
"The president will eventually heal and continue his job," said Kowsari, who last September accompanied the president on his trip to the U.N. General Assembly. "Every human being can face exhaustion under such a workload."
The Iranian president reportedly works a 20 hour day and has not appeared in public since Tuesday.
(For those who would be satisfied it's one "
", obviously.)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, helped by his bodyguard to climb onto the back of a truck during a religious ceremony marking the death of the Shiite Saint Jaafar Sadeq in Tehran on Saturday Oct, 25, 2008.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, helped by his bodyguards during the religious ceremony. Revolutionary Guards Commander General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh, is at right.