Reza H. Akbari

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a delegation of several of his key cabinet members departed Iran on Monday, September 19, to attend the 66th summit of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In recent days, many political observers from inside the country expressed skepticism about Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaiee’s chance of accompanying the president on this trip. In a bold move however, Ahmadinejad has decided to not only bring Mashaiee, his Chief of Staff, but to include other members of the ‘deviant faction,’ such as Hamid Baghaie, his First Vice-President.

For some time now, the traditional conservative groups in the country have been referring to Rahim-Mashaiee and his close associates as the ‘deviant faction’ because the conservatives believe that Mashaiee and his men have strayed from the principles of the conservative movement. Ahmadinejad’s loyalty to his faction has caused a heated debate among the various political factions in Iran and resulted in an apparent rift between the president and the Supreme Leader.

The decision by Ahmadinejad to include Rahim-Mashaiee and other controversial members of his cabinet on this trip is indicative of his determination to stay close to his supporters. This move is interpreted by many traditional conservatives inside the country as an insult to the traditional values of their line of thinking, such as a strong commitment to Velayate-Faqih.

According to the president’s official website, one of the most important goals of his travels is presenting a plan for “reforming global management.”

According to the IRNA News Agency, in a farewell ceremony for Ahmadinejad at the airport, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Supreme Leader’s advisor in international affairs, was present on behalf of Khamenei. Traditionally, the Director of the Office of the Supreme Leader attends such events. It is hard to determine if this is a sign of Khamenei’s disapproval of Ahmadinejad’s delegation.

Also, it is not clear if the Supreme Leader plays a role in deciding the members of the President’s delegation, or if he approves of Ahmadinejad’s speech prior to his trip. However, in the past, Khamenei has expressed a great deal of satisfaction with the president’s remarks at the UN.

According to the BBC’s Persian Service, Khamenei has indicated on a few occasions that he has a lot more trust in Ahmadinejad’s international travels and speeches abroad in comparison to previous administrations. In reaction to Ahmadinejad’s speech at the UN last year, Iran’s Supreme Leader indicated that “[Ahmadinejad] presented certain realities to the world in his eventful and clever trip to the UN.”

According to the IRNA News Agency, some of the other members of Ahmadinejad’s delegation include: Ali Saiedloo, Vice-President for International Affairs; Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Senior Adviser to president and Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs; Maryam Mojtahed Zadeh; the Head of the Center for Women and Family Affairs in the President’s Office; Ali Akbar Salehi, Foreign Minister, Majid Namjoo; Energy Minister, Mehdi Ghazanfari; Minister of Industry, Commerce and Mining; and Abdolreza Sheikholeslami, Minister of Labor.

Since his election in 2005, Ahmadinejad has attended all the UN General Assembly sessions. According to the president’s website, this year, his trip to the UN will be followed by visits to Venezuela, Sudan and Mauritania.