Iran conservatives raise heat on Ahmadinejad

The conservatives ruling Iran have increased the pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to “obey” the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, having deemed the president’s latest pledges of allegiance as inadequate.

“The president said he would dishearten the enemies of the regime (in accepting Khamenei’s authority) but that is not enough. We are waiting for him to act on his words,” said influential religious authority Hojatoleslam Kazem Sediqi, who was widely quoted in yesterday’s papers.
Ahmadinejad told a cabinet meeting on May 1 that he would obey Khamenei like “a son would his father” in an attempt to draw a line on the standoff between the two leaders.

Ahmadinejad had last month boycotted all public duties for eight days after Khamenei vetoed his sacking of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi, an ally of the supreme leader. But later yesterday, he reiterated his allegiance to the Velayat-e Faqih system of supreme leader in Iran. “The government with strength in word and action will continue to defend Velayat-e Faqih,” Ahmadinejad said at a cabinet meeting quoted on state television’s website. The clash over control of the intelligence ministry triggered a conservative backlash against the president that shows little sign of abating.

One Ahmadinejad ally, presidential prayer leader Hojatoleslam Abbas Amirifar, was arrested on May 1 for his murky role in the distribution of a DVD announcing the imminent return of the hidden imam, whom Shia Muslims believe to be the ultimate saviour of humankind who will bring justice to the world. The court also insinuated the arrest of a “sorcerer” who was allegedly linked to Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, Esfandiyar Rahim Mashaie.

“Certain people within the regime have forgotten the values of the revolution and seek to misrepresent Islam ... but the people do not follow demons or jinns, and will not tolerate such deviance,” warned General Mohamed Ali Jafari, head of the Revolutionary Guards, who reports directly to the supreme leader.

Mashaie has long been a thorn in the side of the religious ultra-conservatives, who say he is too nationalistic, too liberal and wields too much influence over the president. Regime hardliners also accuse him of “deviating” the revolution and have petitioned the president several times to get rid of him, so far to no avail.

For the past week, religious conservatives have been issuing daily reminders of the president’s duty of obedience to the supreme leader. “To obey and submit to the supreme leader is a religious duty that has nothing to do with politics,” said Ayatollah Mohamed Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, Ahmadinejad’s former mentor, who added that the president’s “legitimacy is based upon the approval of the supreme leader and not the popular vote.”

Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei’s deputy representative to the Revolutionary Guards, echoed the message: “Neither the president nor anyone has any legitimacy without the order of the supreme leader,” he said, asking Ahmadinejad to “correct” his position. The conservative parliament, dominated by hardliners, has opposed the government frequently in recent months. It has also upped the pressure on Ahmadinejad, launching a petition demanding that he come before parliament to explain his behaviour, Mehr news agency reported.

The petition has already 90 of the 175 signatures required, Mehr reported. Under Iranian law, the president has the right to dismiss ministers. But Khamenei is Iran’s ultimate wielder of power. And conservative parliamentarians have warned Ahmadinejad he could face impeachment if he refused to obey Khamenei. The votes of at least one third of parliament’s 290 lawmakers are required for impeachment of the president.

Some MPs argued that Ahmadinejad’s allies wanted to control the intelligence ministry to secure a majority in the 2012 parliamentary elections, since the intelligence ministry is in charge of checking backgrounds of potential candidates. The Islamic Republic’s first president was impeached in 1981 for attempting to undermine the authority of Ayatollah Khomeini, revered leader of Iran’s Islamic revolution.

Analysts say the outcome of Iran’s power struggle is uncertain but that it could have been kindled in part by concerns over any spillover effect of popular uprisings against dictatorial leaders in the Arab world. “Khamenei feels compelled to confront Ahmadinejad to preserve his own authority and the system,” said analyst Hamid Farahvashi. “Khamenei might want to use Ahmadinejad as a scapegoat if the regional popular crisis spreads into Iran.”

Iran’s leaders maintain that the Arab world revolts have been inspired by its 1979 Islamic Revolution, although analysts abroad say the unrest has been generally secular, not religious.
In any case, Iranian leaders are worried about any revival of anti-government protests that buffeted the country after the re-election of Ahmadinejad. The opposition says the vote was rigged. State authorities deny this.

Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=433333&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17