Tehran, July 20: An entry on the website of Iran’s newly appointed acting president Monday denied a local television report about his resignation.
Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie’s website categorically denied the earlier resignation reports as a lie by enemies aimed at tarnishing the new government’s image.
He was appointed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week as first vice- and de facto acting president.
The appointment led to widespread criticism even within pro-Ahmadinejad circles due to Rahim-Mashaie’s earlier remark that Iran’s political differences with Israel had nothing to do with Israelis and Jews.
In particular, it was his remark that Iran was also friends with the Israeli people that sparked harsh political protests and calls for the resignation of Rahim-Mashaie, at that time vice-president and head of the tourism organization.
But Ahmadinejad ignored the criticism and defended his vice-president, who is also his son’s father-in-law, although the president is known for his anti-Israel stance, controversial remarks that Israel should be wiped from the map of the Middle East and for calling the Holocaust a “fairy tale.”
Rahim-Mashaie’s appointment as acting president was therefore regarded as a provocative move, especially as his pro-Israeli remark was also harshly criticized by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The report on his resignation was carried only, the English-language network of state-television IRIB, which quoted an ambiguous source, and some foreign news agencies.
Ahmadinejad has already replaced three of his vice-presidents and reportedly also plans to change almost half of his cabinet members.
The president has faced criticism from his opponents, including opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi, for making ideological choices in his administration rather than using qualified ministers.
The first change was the appointment of Ali-Akbar Salehi as vice-president and head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. Salehi is a technocrat and ideologically not close to the president.
The rest of the cabinet members will be introduced to parliament in early August. Observers expect heated debates with the deputies who have to approve the choice of ministers.
—–Agencies