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Meanwhile, media reported Wednesday that Iran’s supreme leader handed a humiliation to the president, ordering him to dismiss his choice for top deputy after the appointment drew sharp condemnation from their hard-line base. The move by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appeared to show his need to keep hard-liners’ support even at the cost of angering the president, a close ally – at a time when Khamenei is facing unprecedented opposition after the disputed June 12 election.

The supreme leader is believed to informally weigh in on senior government appointments behind the scenes. But he does not have a formal role in approving appointments and it is extremely rare for him to order an official’s removal.

With the reappointment of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Hashemi Samareh and Masoud Zaribafan to several key posts in the new administration, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued with his insistence on using close friends in the tenth administration.

hmadinejad also appointed Samareh Hashemi as his senior advisr and Masoud Zaribafan to head the Martyrs Foundation.  Previously, he had appointed Akbar Salehi to head the Atomic Energy Agency following Gholamreza Aghazadeh’s resignation. 

In another appointment, Baghaei was appointed to head the tenth administration’s Cultural Heritage Organization.  Also, it was announced that Parviz Davoudi will serve as the president’s advisor.  Mehrdad Bazrpash, who has been with Ahamdinejad since his time as Tehran’s mayor, was promoted from presidential advisor to vice president and head of the National Youth Organization.