HE IS renowned for his long hours and hectic schedule, but the stress of high office may be taking its toll on the health of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and jeopardising his political future.
Speculation about the hyperactive leader's physical condition was prompted this week after a speech to the state statistics and planning body on Wednesday was cancelled at the last minute and a cabinet meeting took place without him.
A speech to a martyr's commemoration event was also called off. A senior aide, Amir Mansour Borghei, told journalists the president was "indisposed".
That explanation has triggered rumours that Mr Ahmadinejad (52) is suffering from a long-term illness that may force him to abandon plans to stand for re-election next year.
Shahab, an Iranian news website, reported that the cancellations were the latest in a series, and said the president had previously cancelled engagements because of listlessness caused by low blood pressure.
Last May Mr Ahmadinejad pulled out of events in three consecutive weeks - including a rally in Golestan province where he was due to meet voters face to face - because of what aides described as an overcrowded schedule.
Citing "sources close to the government", Shahab said doctors had advised him to cut his workload to reduce the possibility of illness. There is little sign that he has heeded such advice, however; Wednesday's cancellation came after Mr Ahmadinejad had returned to Tehran from a visit to the Asalouyeh oil and gas project in southern Iran.
The reports of cancellations come at a time when Mr Ahmadinejad is wrestling with acute political problems, including near 30 per cent inflation, rising unemployment, plummeting oil prices, a market traders' strike over a plan to impose VAT, and demands for the resignation of his interior minister, Ali Kordan, for falsely telling MPs he had an Oxford University degree.
But more worrying is that the rumours appear to have given his critics a new stick to beat him with. Fellow hardliners inside Iran's so-called principalist - or fundamentalist - camp are calling for Mr Ahmadinejad to withdraw from the presidential election unless doubts about his health are cleared up.
Issa Saharkhiz, an Iranian political analyst, said the reports could have been fanned by Mr Ahmadinejad's opponents, including the Tehran mayor, Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf, who are preparing to run against him.
"I'm not sure if these health problems are permanent or just a result of tiredness," he said.
"But some groups, mainly moderate conservatives, may be thinking that they have found a political solution for eliminating him from the nomination for the elections." - (Guardian service)