My BFF
“An unprecedented power struggle at the heart of the Iranian regime has intensified after it emerged that the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had given an ultimatum to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to accept his intervention in a cabinet appointment or resign…… The extraordinary confrontation came to light after Ahmadinejad declined to officially support Khamenei’s reinstatement of a minister whom the president had initially asked to resign. The rift between the two men grew when the president staged an 11-day walkout in an apparent protest at Khamenei’s decision. In the first cabinet meeting since ending his protest, the intelligence minister at the centre of the row, Heydar Moslehi, was absent and in the second one on Wednesday, he was reportedly asked by Ahmadinejad to leave…….”
In 1981, Iran’s first elected president Abolhassan Bani-Sadr fled the country after disagreements with the powerful ayatollahs. Now Ahmadinejad may face the same fate. He has been asked by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to re-instate the minister of intelligence (a cleric) or resign. He seems reluctant to cede on this issue, and may resign. He is a stubborn person and may just defy the Ayatollah and refuse to resign. That is why some clerics are threatening charges of ‘heresy’ if he disagrees: an elected president openly defying the unelected Ayatollah can be a thorny issue for the regime. It may focus more attention of the unelected post of “Supreme Leader”. It may re-invigorate the silenced opposition.
Cheers
mhg
