It's clear who really wears the crown in Iran

[ck4829]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hardline clerics and the country's supreme leader Friday and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a week-long standoff.

For days, the president had resisted pressure from hard-liners, including a direct order from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to dismiss his choice for the key post of first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives when he made friendly comments toward Israel.

The final blow, however, appeared to be the public reading on state television of the order issued earlier by Khamenei to dismiss Mashai because he is "contrary to the interest of you and the government."

The issue created a rare rift between Ahmadinejad and the hard-liners that form the bedrock of his support and comes at a particular sensitive time as he is battling opposition reformists who accuse him of winning the June 12 presidential elections through fraud.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090724/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_politics

Note to reformers in Iran: This whole supreme leader thing has got to go if you want any real change

[FarCenter]

1. The clerics may not be that fond of nepotism

Ahmadinejad's son is married to Mashai's daughter.

Khamenei and the other clerics may not think that close relatives by marraige is the way to pick leaders.

[ck4829]

2. That's just a tad bit ironic

Turn-ons of the clerics: Oppression, theocracy, shooting unarmed protesters, Chasing people on the streets with motorcycles, etc.

Turn-offs: Nepotism.

[FarCenter]

3. The cleric's turn-on is maintaining power

Ahmadinejad's appointing someone because he's Ahmadinejad's son's father-in-law doesn't further their objective.

It will be interesting to see who the replacement is.

[LeftishBrit]

6. He doesn't seem to mind a bit of nepotism when it concerns a certain Mojtaba Khamenei.

[timeforpeace]

4. You mean, letting a religion run a government was a bad idea?

[Warpy]

5. The reformers know that

and one of the things they want is a new constitution giving them a say about who that Council of Experts is made up of.

You know, democratic elections top to bottom.

[MADem]

7. This is not a secret. The "Little Mayor" is just a puppet, a figurehead.

The Supreme has always been the guy pulling the strings.

He's in trouble, though. He's fucked up. The shark is circling....