TEHRAN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sticking by his controversial appointment for first vice president in an unusual defiance of a reported order from the supreme leader for his removal.
Ahmadinejad says he wants time to explain his decision to appoint Esfandiar Rahim Mashai to the post. In a speech yesterday, Ahmadinejad has praised Mashai as an ‘honest and pious man,’ according to the state news agency Irna.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the president to remove Mashai, semiofficial media have reported. Mashai’s appointment last week angered the hard-line base because of his past pro-Israel comments.Iran’s supreme leader handed a humiliation to the president, ordering him to dismiss his choice for top deputy after the appointment drew sharp condemnation from their hard-line base, media reported yesterday.The move by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to show his need to keep hard-liners’ support even at the cost of angering the president, a close ally – at a time when Khamenei is facing unprecedented opposition after the disputed June 12 election.- Nampa-AP
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