While a number of Iranian news agencies reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has overruled the resignation of Heydar Moslehi as Minister fo Intelligence, the official website of the Iranian government still carried the news that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has approved the resignation of Moslehi.
The government website says: “The president has accepted the resignation of the minister of intelligence and taken over the supervision of the ministry himself.”
The website of Ayatollah Khamenei has no published any news regarding this resignation and the stance of the supreme leader about this development.
Sunday evening Iranian news agencies reported that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted the resignation of the intelligence minister and appointed him “president’s advisor in intelligence matter.”
Two hours after the publication of this news, Fars news agency reported that Ayatollah Khamenei has overruled the move and Moslehi will thus continue in his role at head of the ministry.
The report was confirmed by ISNA and Mehr News Agency some minutes later.
The Islamic Republic News Agency reported today that the rejection og Ayatollah Khamenei has not been officially announced to the government.
“Until the end of Sunday night, the president had not received any message from the leadership regarding this issue,” IRNA writes.
IRNA wrote that Fars, Mehr and ISNA has omitted the news regarding the resignation of the intelligence minister and without citing their source ran a news indicating that Heydar Moslehi will remain in his post.
“While the dimensions of this affair are not yet clear, but it appears that a new scenario is being shaped to insinuate a rift between the president and the leader of the Revolution,” IRNA writes.
Executive director of IRNA has written in his personal website that the reports regarding the leader’s overruling of Heydar Moslehi’s resignation is a “fabrication.”
He accuses the media of “lying and power-mongering” and claims that they are trying to insinuate that they president is not aligned with the leader.
“For the politically informed it is evident that a change in such a strategic ministry as the intelligence, cannot be carried out with coordination between the president and the leader of the Revolution and such reports that the president should take a decision that is overruled by the leader after two hours is not logical. It only aims at weakening the position of the president, the leader and the leadership.”
The minister of intelligence is one of the cabinet positions that can only be filled with the direct approval of the supreme leader.
Other conservative media have reported that Heydar Moslehi was removed from his position because he dismissed Hossein Abdollahian from his ministry. Abdollahian is apparently close to Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, the president’s chief of staff.
