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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Ahmadinejad Fires Two Cabinet Ministers |
| 2009-07-27 |
| The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, dismissed two key cabinet ministers on Sunday in the latest fallout of a bitter dispute among conservatives this is the NYTimes so nutcase radicals are called conservatives that has exposed Mr. Ahmadinejad's political vulnerability in the wake of last month's disputed presidential election. Mr. Ahmadinejad sacked the intelligence minister, Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ejei, and the Islamic culture and guidance minister, Muhammad-Hassan Saffar-Harandi. Both men had walked out of a cabinet meeting last week in protest of Mr. Ahmadinejad's promotion of a former culture minister, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who drew fierce criticism last year over comments that were friendly to Israel. There were also reports late Sunday that two more ministers might also be sacked...as reformist factions have rallied against Mr. Ahmadinejad, his own rivals among conservatives appear to smell blood in the water, and have pressed him hard over the promotion of Mr. Mashaei. Mr. Ahmadinejad is now in something of a quandary: he has dismissed more than half his cabinet, which means under Iranian law only if you mean "law" in the literal sense that he must obtain a vote of confidence from the Parliament. |
| Posted by:Lord garth |
| #5 Does this mean that the rhubarb about Mashaei was Khamenei's cronies turning on Ahmadinejad? I had just assumed that it was the less-likeable Principalist backers of Rafsanjani making hay while the sun shone. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-07-27 12:54 |
| #4 Sunday's firing and resignation were significant because both Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi are especially close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. i.e. Short Round is p*ssing into the wind. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2009-07-27 12:11 |
| #3 Refused to recognize him as the 13th imam? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-07-27 04:01 |
| #2 Hmmmmmmmmm...disgruntled intelligence minister. Perhaps he might be interested in...an arrangement? that he must obtain a vote of confidence from the Parliament. Could this be their out over that messy election thingy? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-07-27 01:25 |
| #1 The BBC story about this was torpedoed when somebody suggested the ministers were sacked "Because they had been bitten by a moose." "Mind you, moose bites can be pretty nasty..." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-07-27 00:07 |