Arash Aramesh

In an op-ed on December 14, Hossein Shariatmadari, Kayhan’s hardliner chief editor and an appointee of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, blasted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s sudden decision to remove Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Kayhan, the largest state-run newspaper, has usually been very supportive of the embattled president, but his recent decision to sack Mottaki while he was on official business in Senegal has made even Kayhan question his judgment.

In his piece titled, “With What Justification,” Shariatmadari asked, “…what was so urgent and so important that Dr. Ahmadinejad could not even wait one day or even a few hours to remove his Foreign Minister…and not only did he remove him, but he also felt it was necessary to announce it right away and inform the media about his decision?”

Shariatmadari argued that firing the Foreign Minister while he was on an official visit was against norms and “did not make any sense,” and asserted, “When the president appointed special envoys a few months ago…the Supreme Leader instructed him not to create parallel positions in foreign policy and instead, the president appointed those individuals to serve as his advisors. But three days ago, Esfandiar RahimMashaiee [one of those advisors] was on an official visit delivering a message to the King of Jordan.
This mission has nothing to do with Mashaiee’s post as the president’s Chief of Staff and resembles the duties of a special envoy.”

Earlier, a number of Iran observers had argued that removing Mottaki was done without Khamenei’s consent and the Iranian president decided to remove Mottaki two days before the holy Shiite day of Ashura in order to minimize the negative media coverage of his decision in conservative newspapers.

So far, the Supreme Leader has not made any public statements about Mottaki’s removal, but as it appears from remarks made by some of his surrogates such as Shariatmadari, the Leader may have serious reservations about President Ahmadinejad’s decision.