Esfandiar Rahim Mashai

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad’s feud with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei isn't his fault: He’s under a magic spell. At least, that’s the theory one influential cleric is peddling. In an interview with an Iranian magazine, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a former Ahmadinejad supporter, says he believes...

(Newser) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved in to pressure from hardline clerics and the country's supreme leader today and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a week-long standoff. For days, the president had resisted pressure to dismiss Esfandiar Rahim Mashai from the key post of first vice president. Mashai...