Tehran: Mashaie is in trouble again. This time he has been barred from office for two months by Iran`s audit court over a breach of administrative rules, newspapers reported on Saturday.
The controversial aide to Iran`s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was earlier sacked as the first vice president of the country after direct orders from Ayatollah Ali Khameni, the supreme leader.
"The Supreme Audit Court has sentenced Esfandiar Rahim
Mashaie to a two-month suspension from service for continuing
to grant illegal financial authority to an employee," leading
economic daily Sarmayeh said.
It said the offence was committed when Mashaie was a
vice president in charge of the Tourism and Cultural Heritage
Organization during the first term of Ahmadinejad. He is
currently Ahmadinejad`s chief of staff.
Mashaie confirmed the ruling but has objected to it,
insisting the ban "has nothing to do with financial offences,"
the report said. He added that the employee in question was
dismissed during his administration.
Ahmadinejad named his confidant and relative Mashaie
as first vice president soon after his disputed June 12
re-election but was forced to terminate the appointment after
strong opposition to the man who has infuriated hardliners by
saying Iran is a friend of Israeli people.
The continuing targeting of Mashaie is indicative of a power struggle inside the hardline camp. The President had earlier resisted pressure to for a week from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to fire Mashaie.
Bureau Report
