By DPA,
Tehran : Iran’s parliament plans to force President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to sack his vice president, a parliamentary deputy told the ISNA news agency Tuesday.
“The elimination of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei from key positions such as first vice (acting) president is a strategic decision by the establishment, and (also) the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) has conveyed this to the president,” Mohammad-Hassan Abutorabi-Fard told ISNA.
“The president should therefore not hesitate to sack him or make him resign from his post,” the deputy said.
Rahim-Mashaie was last week appointed by Ahmadinejad as first vice president, and de facto acting, president.
The appointment led to widespread criticism even within pro-Ahmadinejad circles, owing to Rahim-Mashaie’s remark that Iran’s political differences with Israel had nothing to do with Israelis and Jews.
His remark that Iran was also a friend of the Israeli people sparked particularly harsh protests and calls for the resignation of Rahim-Mashaie, at that time vice president and head of the tourism organisation.
But Ahmadinejad ignored the criticism and defended his vice – who is also the father-in-law of his son – even though Ahmadinejad is known for his anti-Israeli stance.
His controversial remarks on Israel include one that it should be wiped out of the Middle East and transformed to Europe and America, and another terming the Holocaust a “fairytale”.