Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the Majlis (parliament) to stop attempts to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning.
The BBC reports Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned MPs that if the matter went further, it would play into the hands of Iran's enemies.
MPs promptly withdrew their signatures from a document demanding the president face their questions over the struggling economy and other government failings.
Mr Ahmadinejad's second presidential term expires in August 2013. He cannot stand again for a third term.
The BBC says it was an unprecedented direct intervention in the Majlis, Iran's parliament.
Ayatollah Khamenei recently issued a warning about the danger of dragging disputes between officials into the open. Now he has been filmed speaking at a meeting of the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary militia.
"I demand that the respected MPs not go ahead with this," he said.
"The country needs calm at the moment. All officials in legislative, judicial and executive branches need calm to carry out their duties. So do the people."
The BBC says that a lame-duck president who cannot stand again for a third term, Mr Ahmadinejad may be useful as a scapegoat for growing public frustration with the failing economy
