Leader Cautions the President and his Cabinet

Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online:

In a speech to the new hard-line president and his cabinet, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei asked that they avoid breaking their promises with the nation, not to exaggerate their deeds, not take hasty measures in their decision making. He also spoke highly of them and praised their power. His remarks were an immediate scorn of the Parliament (Majlis) speaker that had implicitly withdrawn his criticism of the Expediency Council's new mission that was approved by leader's decree.

President Ahmadinejad, whose cabinet is yet to form a functional team, had also criticized some of the authorities of the regime accusing them of having their eyes on foreign interests and also for applying pressure on his selection of cabinet Ministers.

Two days after his speech in Qom that stunned political observers, the Expediency Council's new mission to oversee the three branches of government was announced through which the leader ceded some of his absolute powers to the Council, currently chaired by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. READ MORE

Although this controversial decision created a motion in the Majlis, whose Speaker Haddad Adel, initially criticized the new role of the Council, Adel later retracted his words by explaining the responsibilities and authority of the leader, and his rights to supervise the grand policies of the Islamic system, thus accepting the new realities.

In his meeting with Ahmadinejad's cabinet, the leader asked them to constantly be aware of the threats of betrayal, and asked them not to be intimidated by the criticism which sometimes comes in good faith. An informed source says that the recent tensions among Iran's political factions, and the accusations and high strung words that have been exchanged between some of the leading politicians, has had a worrying effect on the country’s leading executives prompting the leader to intervene in the situation. It is predicted that the political atmosphere that was created right after Ahmadinejad mounted the executive saddle would soon fade away and the four remaining ministers of the cabinet who are expected to be selected from amongst more experienced and moderate figures, would receive the approval of the Majlis. A source close to the politicians involved in the talks over the issues, anticipates that the pressures on the former government's officials will also diminish in the coming days as the temperatures cool off even among the hardlines.