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When there's political upheaval in Tehran, it's often interwoven with the explosive question of possible outreach to the United States. And that may be the case with a recent feud between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The key figure in this dispute is Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's former chief of staff and said to be his choice as successor in the next Iranian presidential elections scheduled for 2013. In recent months, Mashaei is said to have initiated a series of contacts attempting to open a dialogue with the United States.
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TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hard-line clerics and the country's supreme leader Friday and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a weeklong standoff.
For days, the president had resisted pressure from hard-liners, including a direct order from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to dismiss his choice for the key post of first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives when he made friendly comments toward Israel.
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In the 30-year reign of Iran's Islamic Republic, there have been few controversies as serious as the one surrounding the 2009 elections. Blaming Iran's problems on Ahmadinejad would lead us in a dangerous direction by suggesting that those problems will go away when he is finally driven out of office.
... Ahmadinejad's nepotistic appointment of Esfandiar Rahim Masha'i, the father of his daughter-in-law, ...
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One of the central questions of the 2009 Iranian Presidential Election crisis has been the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This article argues that what we are witnessing goes beyond the institution of the IRGC to the unmasking of a new faction in Iranian politics, which has been overtly (through elections) and covertly (through penetration of state institutions and the economy) transforming power in the Islamic Republic of Iran since at least 2003.
..., head of the Office of the President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, IRGC Generals Mohammad 'Ali Ja'fari...
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IN an autumn ritual, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once more arrived in New York this week. The Iranian president's usual media tours and bombastic speeches are likely to be sprinkled with hints of moderation on Iran's contested nuclear program.
On his sixth trip to the United Nations, Ahmadinejad is likely to find an international community more confident that its forceful economic sanctions have finally made Tehran appreciate the cost of its belligerence.
... surrounded by deranged aides such as Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, his chief of staff, and Saeed Jalil...
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While American eyes were focused on the midterm elections, a bitter conflict has continued between the United States and Iran for influence in the Middle East.
The flash points have been Iraq and Lebanon, where the Iranians have been pushing through their proxies for what amounts to political control. The United States and its allies have been resisting -- sometimes feebly, but enough to slow the Iranian advance. In both Baghdad and Beirut, the proxy warfare may escalate in coming weeks.
... outreach to American contacts by Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a key political adviser to Iranian...
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Iran's government appears to be imploding even before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sworn in for a second term, with three Cabinet ministers dismissed, resigning or on their way out and the opposition vowing to continue protests over disputed presidential elections.
Iran specialists say Mr. Ahmadinejad - who has alienated some hard-liners and reformists in Iran through poor economic management and an adventurist foreign policy - is badly weakened as he heads into a second term and may not be able to complete another four years in office.
...'s insistence on a high position for Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, the father of his daughter-in-law, ...
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TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's parliament is set to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning over an economic scandal and his polices after the required number of lawmakers signed a petition Sunday, the latest salvo in a long battle between the president and his rivals.
Ahmadinejad would be the first president to be hauled before the Iranian parliament, a serious blow to his standing in a the conflict involving the president, lawmakers and Iran's powerful clerics.
...His protege and top aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, has been effectively blackballed fr...
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TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's supreme leader bestowed his formal endorsement on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second term as president on Monday but withheld a powerful symbolic gesture - the kisses and close embrace that portrayed their bond four years ago.
The awkward and halting moment came when Ahmadinejad leaned forward, apparently to kiss the hand of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But the supreme leader raised his left hand and gently diverted Ahmadinejad to kiss his robe. The uneasy body language reflected much of the political tension and collateral damage since the disputed June 12 election sent Iran into its worst internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
... by refusing to drop his top deputy, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who angered conservatives last year ...
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TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's opposition leaders appealed on Saturday to top clerics in the holy city of Qom to help stop the ruling Islamic regime's violent postelection crackdown -- reaching out to the one group that could go head-to-head with the country's supreme leader.
The reformists compared the regime's crackdown to that of the late shah of Iran, remembered in the country for his brutal secret police, with one opposition leader even tactics were worse than those used by the Israelis against the Palestinians.
... appointed his former vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, as an adviser and the head of his of...