Hardline Iranian leader alienates fellow conservatives

CRITICS say the 80s-style radicalism of ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is hurting Iran at home and abroad - to the point that even his natural allies in parliament have rejected his three choices to run the all-important oil ministry.

The Islamic hardliner appears undeterred, but pragmatists in the ruling hierarchy are growing restless and looking for ways to contain him.

Conservative writer Ghodratollah Rahmani said: “Ahmadinejad’s behavior has annoyed many fellow conservatives. That he doesn’t like to consult with anybody outside his small circle of old friends is a reality. He doesn’t consult even with knowledgeable people in his own camp.”

Even extremists in the hardline camp want Mr Ahmadinejad to be more responsive to their advice.

Leader of the Islamic Coalition Society, Mohammad Nabi Habibi said: “If he doesn’t want to hear no for a fourth time, he has to consult with people outside his circle of friends.”

Mr Ahmadinejad has jettisoned Iran’s moderation in foreign policy and pursued a purge in the government, replacing pragmatic veterans with former military commanders and inexperienced religious hard-liners.

His aim is to install rulers who will revive the radical fundamentalist goals pursued in the 1980s under the late Ayatollah Khomeini, father of the 1979 revolution that toppled Iran’s pro-Western shah.

All pragmatists, including those seeking better ties with the West, have either lost their posts or will likely lose them soon, pushing the government toward an ever more radical stance in the volatile Middle East and in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr Ahmadinejad’s call last month for Israel to be “wiped off the map” intensified international concerns about his policies. Iran’s resumption of uranium conversion angered some nations that have suspicions over whether the Tehran regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

He suffered a humiliating defeat last week when his choice for oil minister was rejected for a third time, an unprecedented failure for an Iranian president.

This month, the government announced that 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of better ties with the West, would be fired.

In the works is the replacement of hundreds of governors and senior officials at various ministries with young, inexperienced hardliners who oppose good relations with the West. This includes putting fundamentalists in key posts at security agencies.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, has endorsed Mr Ahmadinejad’s course.

Presidential adviser Mahdi Kalhor said: “Ahmadinejad has a revolutionary management policy. He makes decisions in 24 hours previous governments used to take within five years.”