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Internal Strife Emerges as Tehran Looks Westward
(Washington Post) David Ignatius - There's political upheaval in Tehran as seen in a recent feud between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The key figure in this dispute is Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's former chief of staff and said to be his choice as successor in the next Iranian presidential elections, scheduled for 2013. The political battle erupted after Ahmadinejad and Mashaei attempted to get greater control over the intelligence ministry, prompting the resignation of Heydar Moslehi, its director. But on April 20, Khamenei refused to accept the resignation, and Moslehi was reinstalled - in an unusual public rebuke by the supreme leader of Ahmadinejad.