NIAC has interesting report that Supreme Leader Khamenei wants Ahmadinejad to fire his choice for first Vice-President Mashaei. Ahmadinejad reportedly does not want to and the status of Mr. Mashaei is not entirely clear at this time.
This raises the interesting question of who really wears the pants within the hardliners. Obviously Khamenei is legally the highest authority in the government, but can he decide questions regarding Ahmadinejad's cabinet. Traditionally the Surpreme Leader is not supposed to hold this kind of sway over personal selections of the President. However Khamenei might feel that Ahmadinejad must follow his orders because he effectively made him President by not challenging the resutls of the rigged election.
This reaises the question of what happens to the government that gets its legitimacy from one man and not from the people. Is Khamenei tyring to consolidate power around his rule and is Ahmadinejad resisting? All these questions demonstrate that even the power dynamics within the hardline faction of the regime is not simple. Now take into account the power struggle between hardliners and other people within the regime such as Rafsanjani and you have a very complicated situation indeed.
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