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Local media has speculated that the dispute between the supreme leader and the president runs deeper than the disagreement over the dismissal of the intelligence chief.
Some have speculated that the main issue that president and religious leader have butted heads about is Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei.
Mashaei is said to oppose the clergy-dominated framework of the Islamic republic's establishment, preferring a more nationalistic approach in running the country.
Ahmadinejad has thrown firm support behind Mashaei, causing clergy circles to accuse the president of trying to undermine the Islamic character and principles of the country's ruling system.
Mehrdad Khonsari, an analyst with the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies in London, told Al Jazeera on Friday that the dispute, which began last month, had become "serious".
"It shows the level of disunity at the very top of the Iranian [political] hierachy [with] Ahmadinejad having already polarised the internal political scene as a result of fraudulent election results that were announced more than 20 months ago," Khonsari said.
"He is now beginning to encroach on the powers and privileges vested in the supreme leader, and he and his constituency - mainly among the Revolutionary Guards - have tried to do this.
"And, of course, the supreme leader has tried to make a stand and in this stand he has been joined by many people from the ruling establishment who have been cast aside by Ahmadinejad."
Originally posted by baddmove
reply to post by Cryptonomicon
Oh man..I was seriously reading Slayers thread and WHAM...
I spit beer all over my monitor..
Damn that was funny..
I have nothing on topic to say yet...
give me a few minutes...