Iranian vice-president 'sacked'

[2QT2BSTR8]

Source: BBC

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed his most senior vice-president, it has been reported.

The decision, the state news agency Irna said, came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Mr Ahmadinejad to do so.

First Vice-President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie had angered hardliners last year by saying Iranians and Israelis were friends.

An aide said Mr Mashaie did not now consider himself first vice-president.

The decision came after a week-long stand-off between Ayatollah Khamenei and Mr Ahmadinejad, who had defended Mr Mashaie.

Ayatollah Khamenei wrote to the president, telling him that appointing Mr Mashaie was "against your interest and the interests of the government".

In the letter, which was broadcast on Iranian state TV, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "It is necessary to announce the cancellation of this appointment."

Mr Ahmadinejad, who is known for his own outspoken views against Israel, had been defending Mr Mashaie, at one stage calling him modest and loyal to Iran's Islamic system.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8168202.stm

[DainBramaged]

1. And his reward will not be 57,000,000 virgins waiting for him but probably an AK 47

as he gets home.

[monmouth]

2. I thought I read that the VP was a son-in-law also....n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. Damn theocracy to hell

I thought it wasn't possible to be to the right of Ahmadinejad; but apparently Khamenei manages it.

[ohio2007]

4. So that leaves about 23 current VP's to fill the top VP seat.. Which ones do the mullahs want ? nt

[ohio2007]

5. Ahmadinejad 'sacks three Iran ministers' ... interesting twist setting up

After a weeklong dissension among Iran's ruling system over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first deputy pick, three ministers have been sacked. Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad-Hassan Saffar-Harandi and Labor Minister Mohammad Jahromi were removed from their posts on Sunday.

Iranian media reported that Saffar-Harandi's harsh criticism of president's decisions about Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's first vice president who withdrew after creating a weeklong political outrage in Iran, might have cost him his job.

The development comes only 8 days before the end of the 9th government's tenure, raising the speculation that President Ahmadinejad must seek a vote of confidence for his Cabinet after more than half of the 21 total minister were replaced over the four-year term.

“In case half of the members of Cabinet are replaced, the government must seek a fresh vote of confidence from Parliament,” reads Article 136.


snip

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/articles/34/Ahmadinejad_sacks_three_Iran_ministers_.html