Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces impeachment threat

Iranian president under increasing pressure from MPs after supporting foreign minister’s controversial appointment of deputy Ministers in Iran moved a step closer towards impeaching the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after a series of clashes with supporters of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Impeachment proceedings were launched against foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi for appointing a man close to Ahmadinejad’s chief-of-staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, as his deputy. MPs warned that impeachment proceedings against Ahmadinejad would begin soon. The power struggle between Ahmadinejad and the establishment emerged after the controversies surrounding Mashaei became public. Khamenei’s supporters, who include the overwhelming majority of the parliament, say Mashaei has too much influence over Ahmadinejad. They accuse him of attempting to undermine clerical power and increasing his own power base. Deputy foreign minister Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh was appointed last week but resigned on Tuesday. However, despite the resignation Iranian MPs went ahead with the impeachment motion.The parliament also rejected Ahmadinejad’s nominee for the new post of minister of sport and youth. Ali Motahari, an influential MP, told news website Khabaronline that the motion to impeach Ahmadinejad would be delivered within 10 days. “In a meeting with the parliamentary clerics, we decided to launch the motion [to impeach the president] in 10 days and avoid any delays.” Iran Middle East Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.