TEHERAN — Iran’s vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref has rejected cooperation with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ISNA news agency reported yesterday.
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Aref, the number two in the cabinet of ex-president Mohammad Khatami, was supposed to cooperate with Ahmadinejad as vice-president at least in the initial phase of his presidential term. ISNA however quoted an informed source as saying that Aref rejected the offer, choosing to return to the university as an instructor in telecommunications while continuing his political activities with Khatami.
The reformist factions had earlier rejected any cooperation with Ahmadinejad as junior coalition partners, although it was not clear whether the president had made the reformists any offer at all. There have also been unconfirmed reports that some female officials had rejected offers to join Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, which is widely classified as ultraconservative and in line with the president’s party Abadgaran which also dominates the parliament.
Ex-president Khatami’s critical stance towards his successor is well-known in Iranian political circles and recent remarks indicate that he and his supporters are to form an opposition front against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khatami was constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term in elections held this year but is allowed to run again in 2009. |