Word: khamenei
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...coup by comparing Ahmadinejad to both Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who was booted in a CIA-orchestrated coup in 1953, and Abol-Hassan Banisadr, the Islamic Republic's first President, who went into exile after he challenged Ayatullah Khomeini's authority. (See pictures of the long shadow of Ayatullah Khamenei...
...Rafsanjani and Mohammed Khatami, in the aftermath of the disputed June 12 presidential election. Then, last week, he angered his conservative base by appointing a deputy and in-law, Esfandir Rahim Mashaei, who was once quoted as sounding pro-Israel, as his Vice President. After Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei issued a public letter criticizing the choice, Ahmadinejad at first was defiant and then, after Mashaei withdrew, turned around and nominated him as his chief of staff...
...Ahmadinejad on Sunday, July 26, fired his Intelligence Minister, who had earlier walked out of a Cabinet meeting to protest his vice-presidential choice amid a "verbal quarrel"; his Culture Minister also resigned over the brouhaha. The two Ministers, according to political analysts, were both particularly close to Khamenei. (See pictures of Ahmadinejad's visit to New York...
Amid the turmoil is one almost paranoid bit of speculation: that the public brawl Ahmadinejad finds himself in is just part of the smoke and mirrors orchestrated by Khamenei or his protégés to lend Ahmadinejad more credibility. A political insider in contact with officials in the regime says Khamenei's second son, Mojtaba Khamenei - who holds substantial influence among the ruling clergy and is seen by many as being groomed to succeed the Supreme Leader - still firmly supports the President. "He needs Ahmadinejad around to give himself legitimacy," says the insider. "This is all just...
...case, a sidelined Ahmadinejad would further radicalize the executive branch of the regime. Khamenei has shown in the aftermath of June 12 that he will not compromise with the reformists (although earlier this week, under intense opposition pressure, he ordered a prison housing political dissidents in south Tehran to be shuttered). There is thus little hope that a decommissioned Ahmadinejad would leave room for a compromise replacement who could defuse the postelection crisis; a coup would in all likelihood further fuel the opposition and throw the country into further chaos...