TEHRAN, Iran — There seems to be no end in sight to the standoff between former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the one hand and the hard-line judiciary as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Organization on the other.

Last month was particularly challenging for Ahmadinejad. He saw his former Vice President Hamid Baghaei sent to prison March 13, only hours after a court rejected his appeal and confirmed a 62-year sentence over a series of corruption-related charges. The charges notably included the alleged embezzlement of more than 3.7 million euros ($4.6 million) paid to him by the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the IRGC.

Baghaei has vehemently protested his sentence and demanded that Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani appear in court to testify that he was indeed paid the money he is said to have embezzled. In this vein, Ahmadinejad has also written a letter to Soleimani to express his willingness to reveal the nature of their work together. Soleimani has remained silent while IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif has denied any ties with Baghaei, adding a twist to the situation. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad’s adviser and confidant Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who is reviled by many conservatives for his controversial statements on sensitive topics such as Israel, showed up outside the British Embassy in Tehran to torch a copy of Baghaei’s verdict, claiming that it was issued on the orders of Britain.

The judiciary’s response was swift and tough. Mashaei was arrested on March 17. His lawyer, Mehran Abdollahpour, told Al-Monitor that he is charged with “aiding and abetting acts against national security.” Abdollahpour, who also represents Baghaei, elaborated, “Mr. Mashaei was interrogated by the investigators of the IRGC Intelligence Organization. … I was only allowed to attend his last interrogation. With the end of this process, his one-month arbitration detention should legally end and he can walk free on bail. But I don’t know why they refuse to release him.”