Ahmadinejad and Former Friends Reunite?

(Ahmadinejad and ministers leaving a cabinet meeting. Source: president.ir)

Is Ahmadinejad reuniting with dissident members of his administration? The Reformist website Entekhab published an analysis on Sunday, speculating that the former president, who many believe will re-run for the post, is mending fences with old friends.

Since the early days after his controversial reelection as president in June 2009, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced criticism from inside his administration, first and foremost for his insistence on appointing his senior advisor Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei as vice president despite objection by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The fallout of his maverick attitude in nuclear diplomacy and economy, and his staunch support for Rahim-Mashaei, a subject of much detest inside the Principlist camp for his unconventional remarks on culture and Islam, gradually led to alienation of Ahmadinejad's cabinet members.

In the spring of last year, figures from Ahmadinejad's administration and a number of his supporters in the parliament, announced the establishment of Yekta Front, Front of Comrades for Effectiveness and Transformation of Islamic Iran.

According to Entekhab, a common denominator of Yekta members was their disavowal of Ahmadinejad's approach. Kamran Daneshjou, Minister of Higher Education in Ahmadinejad's administration and a founding member of Yekta, had said that as long as Ahmadinejad's controversial approach continues, he will not meet the president.

A number of analysts believed Yekta's establishment as coordinate with Ahmadinejad, Entekhab reports, as an effort to rebuild his shattered image inside the Principlist camp. Such claims were denied however, by both figures close to Ahmadinejad and members of the Yekta Front. The same Kamran Daneshjou stressed that no member of the party had consulted or informed the former president, and neither had the former president inquired about the decision.

Entekhab also quoted Massoud Zaribafan, senior advisor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his first administration and later head of the Bonyad-e Shahid, Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affair, who had strongly criticized Ahmadinejad during an interview with Fars News Agency. Zaribafan said that he was waiting for the day Ahmadinejad officially recanted "deviational thoughts", a reference to his support for Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei's controversial remarks. In response, Ahmadinejad's PR team had reminded Zaribafan of his close relations with Mashaei, and asked why he "didn't resign like a real man" if he was so critical of the president, Entekhab reported.

The return of Yekta members to Ahmadinejad's arms and their about-face, a far cry from their denunciation of "the deviant current", Rahim-Mashaei and Co., shows that Yekta has not established its clear position in Iran's political landscape, Entekhab reports.

Two members of the Yekta Front, former Minister of Culture Mohammad Hosseini and Kamran Daneshjou, are going to be keynote speakers in the upcoming conference on "Rereading the Discourse" of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Mutual willingness to put aside differences, and Yekta's "desparate return to Ahmadinejad", stems from the recent failure of the Principlist camp in parliamentary elections according to Entekhab. For now, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei will be relegated to the backseat to guarantee that he remains intact from the Principlists' diatribe, though Ahmadinejad has proven that he will not abandon Mashaei under any circumstances, and it is his critics who have to swallow their pride and gather under Mashaei's umbrella in the future according to Entekhab.

All this happens amid the Principlist media's blackout on Ahmadinejad and his tours around the country, refreshing the memory of his 'provincial visits'. The Principlist media have also boycotted the news on the "Rereading…" conference, a clear sign of their unwillingness for Ahmadinejad's return.