TEHRAN, Iran — Several leading Iranian clerics criticized President Ahmadinejad yesterday for saying that the last imam of Shiite Islam, a messianic figure whom Shiites believe was hidden by God 1,140 years ago, leads modern-day Iran.

“We see his hand directing all the affairs of the country,” Mr. Ahmadinejad told theological students in Mashad during a speech that appears to have been given last month but was not broadcast until Tuesday. “A movement has started for us to occupy ourselves with our global responsibilities. God willing, Iran will be the axis of the leadership of this movement,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said.

Clerics in the Iranian parliament accused Mr. Ahmadinejad of implying that Imam Mahdi or Imam Zaman, as the Shiite messiah is also called, supports his government. “If, God forbid, Ahmadinejad means that Imam Zaman supports the government’s actions, this is wrong. Certainly Imam Zaman would not accept 20% inflation rates, nor would he support it or many other mistakes that exist in the country today,” a cleric belonging to a powerful faction close to Iranian businessmen and established religious figures, Gholam-reza Mesbahi Moghadam, said. His comments appeared in Ettemaad-e Melli, a Tehran newspaper owned by a cleric who is critical of Mr. Ahmadinejad.