TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed his long-serving foreign minister on Monday and named one of his own close allies, Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, as his interim replacement.
The sacking of Manouchehr Mottaki is an indication... of a struggle between the president and parliament in which the assembly has accused Ahmadinejad of concentrating more power in his own hands and riding roughshod over the views of lawmakers.
There was no indication, however, that the switch signaled any shift in Iran's nuclear policy or the broad lines of its foreign policy. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last word on nuclear policy and other matters of state.
"I appreciate your diligence and services as the foreign minister," state news agency IRNA quoted the hardline Ahmadinejad as saying in a letter to Mottaki.
Mottaki is viewed as an ally of conservative parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who lost to Ahmadinejad in the 2005 election and is now seen as the key rival of the president in his political battle with the assembly.
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