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Iranian Leader Rebuffs Ahmadinejad over Official's Dismissal
(Washington Post) Thomas Erdbrink - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a public rebuff Wednesday when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, confirmed that Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi, whom Ahmadinejad had dismissed Sunday, is to keep his job. The controversy flared against a backdrop of tension about the growing influence of Ahmadinejad's closest aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, in the country's affairs. Semiofficial news media reported that Mashaei played a central role in Moslehi's dismissal. Mashaei, a former Intelligence Ministry official, made a controversial trip in December to Jordan, a country with which Iran has frosty relations because of its ties with Israel. Recently, Ahmadinejad has warned neighbors in the region that the U.S. and Israel are planning to divide Jordan to establish a Palestinian state there. Two weeks ago Ahmadinejad abruptly replaced Mashaei, who holds several government positions, as the head of the president's office.