Iran hardliners press criticism of Ahmadinejad over VP

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presents a gift to his vice-presidential pick Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie in Tehran. —AFP

TEHRAN, July 26 (AFP): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision to sacrifice his pick as first vice president a week after being ordered to do so by the supreme leader failed to satisfy hardline critics Sunday who said he should have acted sooner.
The hardliners, many of whom supported Ahmadinejad in last month's disputed election that returned him to power, said the president should have sacked his friend Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as soon as he received the order from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"After the supreme leader issued the letter on July 18, it was the duty of the president to heed it," prominent member of parliament Ahmad Tavakoli was quoted as saying by the state-owned Jam-e Jam newspaper.
"But unfortunately he did not do it for seven days and it was Mashaie who announced his own resignation. The president should have sacked him and should not have allowed Mashaie to quit."