During a session of the Iranian regime’s parliament on Sunday over the impeachment a cabinet minister, a new and unprecedented height in the power struggle between regime’s internal factions was presented. In that session, Ahmadinejad played a videotape and embarked on exposing the parliament speaker Ali Larijani. In response, Larijani called Ahmadinejad’s action mafia-like, and threatened to expose him, in return. The following is excerpts international media reports on the clash:
The Wall Street Journal, Feb, 4 2013:
Two of the heavyweights in Iranian politics attacked each other with accusations of blackmail, corruption and mafia-like rule, in a boisterous and unprecedented public confrontation that brings a simmering political feud into the open months ahead of presidential elections…
The exchange suggests an erosion in the authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all state matters. Mr. Khamenei has repeatedly warned rival political factions not to publicize their spats. In October, he said that anyone who creates divisions in the run-up to June presidential elections has committed treason…
Iranian media labeled the event as parliament’s “Black Sunday,” with most commentators expressing shock and embarrassment at the public spat and criticizing top officials for engaging in petty and juvenile behavior while the country’s economy declines and people suffer.
The New York Times, Feb 4, 2013
On Monday, a conservative newspaper, Kayhan, hinted that the nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been forced to step in to prevent both men from giving potentially damaging news conferences, which were both canceled at the last minute.
This was not the first time Ayatollah Khamenei has been forced to intervene in this feud. In October, he issued an edict aimed at stopping the infighting, saying that those creating divisions before the June 14 presidential elections “betray” the country…
On Monday, several officials criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad and Ali Larijani, accusing them of lacking self-control and bringing shame on the country. “They broke the leader’s heart and gave the friends of the Islamic republic almost a seizure,” said Mojtaba Zolnour, a special consultant to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency reported. “They provided ammunition for the foreign media on the eve of our election.”
