Tehran - In the summer of 2005 Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani enjoyed the
best of relations.
Larijani was the president's right hand man as secretary of the
National Security Council, and dealt with the diplomatic challenges
posed by Iran's controversial nuclear programmes.
For the ruling conservatives they were a dream couple. But the
relationship did not last for long.
'What the academic Larijani achieved in painstaking (nuclear)
talks with (European Union foreign policy chief Javier) Solana,
Ahmadinejad ruined with one single populistic remark,' a Western
diplomat in Tehran said.
With phrases such as 'UN resolutions are just a torn piece of
paper,' anti-Israeli tirades and questioning the Holocaust, the
president turned Larijani's missions abroad into a labour of
Sisyphus.
By October 2005 Larijani, 50, had had enough and quit.
The resignation of the close ally of Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei triggered a wave of criticism of the president
from both within parliament and the government.
'The man is simply unpredictable,' said former finance minister
Davoud Danesh-Jafari about the president.
Danesh-Jafari is one of seven ministers who have quit the
Ahmadinejad cabinet, together with the vice president for planning
and budget and the Central Bank governor.
Several deputies have also distanced themselves from the
president.
Before the parliamentary elections in March this year, a new group
was formed within the conservative faction which, unlike the
reformists led by former president Mohammad Khatami, was loyal to the
system but like Khatami highly critical of Ahmadinejad.
With his landslide victory in the elections, Larijani became the
leader of the new faction.
Just after the elections, the new group claimed victory and
eventually demanded the speaker post for Larijani. But the pro-
Ahmadinejad faction headed by former speaker Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel
laid similar claims.
The two men met head-on in an internal vote before the
inauguration of the new legislative term. The outcome: 75 per cent of
the deputies present backed Larijani and outed themselves as
sympathizers of the new group.
Hadad-Adel, a close ally and advisor of Ahmadinejad, had to
acknowledge defeat and drop his lobbying for the speaker post.
'Ideologically I have no differences with Ahmadinejad, but we have
indeed differences in style, approach and management,' Larijani said.
Analysts believe that although Larijani and his new faction will
stick to Ahmadinejad's policies - including the nuclear programme -
they will force the president to adopt a less populistic approach.
There is also speculation that Larijani will challenge
Ahmadindejad in the presidential elections scheduled for June 2009.
'Although the power struggle between the two will remain in
abeyance until next year, the time between will have a strong impact
on the presidential election process,' a female Iranian journalist
said.
USA
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