Iran's Ahmadinejad sacks vice president

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved in to hardliners and sacked his controversial deputy yesterday, suffering a first major blow to forging a new government since his disputed re-election.

Ahmadinejad said in a letter to the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie had stepped down as first vice president, a little over a week after he was appointed, the state news agency Irna said.

"I am sending you the letter of Rahim Mashaie announcing he is stepping down from the post of the vice president," Ahmadinejad wrote to Khamenei in the letter, Irna reported.

Rahim Mashaie's appointment triggered strong opposition from hardliners and plunged Iran into a fresh political turmoil even while it remains engulfed in the worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Widespread protests after the June 12 disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad that left at least 20 people dead have shaken the pillars of the Islamic republic.

Khamenei had himself ordered the sacking of Rahim Mashaie, who caused a stir last year when he said Iran was a "friend of the Israeli people". The appointment of Rahim Mashaie was against the best interest of Ahmadinejad and the government, and it would cause "division and frustration among your supporters," Khamenei said in a letter.

"It is necessary that the appointment be cancelled," state television quoted the letter as saying.

The sacking comes as a blow to Ahmadinejad, who had strongly defended his deputy's appointment, going so far as to describe Rahim Mashaie as "like a pure source of water."

"Mr Mashaie is one of Mr Ahmadinejad's inner circle of trustees ...his appointment was to have total supervision of the cabinet, especially control over sensitive sectors like oil, economy and central bank," independent analyst Mohammad Saleh Sedghian told AFP.

"His appointment was aimed at having total control over the cabinet over the next four years so there would be absolutely no opposition."

Ahmadinejad's re-election has been hotly disputed by his main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who says his victory was a result of massive vote rigging.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into Tehran streets to protest their "stolen votes" before security forces launched a crackdown in which at least 20 people died and more than 1,000 were arrested. The crisis has ricocheted all the way up the state structure, with Khamenei denouncing protesters, giving unconditional support to Ahmadinejad and declaring the poll legal.