A former minister in Ahmadinejad’s administration – that of the ministry of the interior - broke his silence to show that the administration's critics are not confined just to those outside the administration.
The recent interview of the ex-interior minister who was in charge of the ministry until 29 days ago, has fueled the rise of what some call "a new front of administration critics from inside the cabinet." Fararu website, which dubbed the term, noted, "Breaking the silence by Pourmohammadi and the recollection of part of the untold story from his tenure at the ministry was enough to signal a new message for President Ahmadinejad. The new message contained news of the rise of a new front of administration critics from inside the cabinet."
Former interior minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who carries years of experience serving in the ministry of intelligence had previously said, "I would never be wiling to say something that is harmful to the people and I never was or am willing to say such things to make myself feel better." Less than a month from that promise, however, Pourmohammadi broke his silence and in an interview with Hamshahri daily which is affiliated with Tehran's municipality, retold some of the untold stories from his days as an insider in the ninth administration.
The minister confirmed that disagreements with Ahmadinejad played a role in his departure from his department, adding, "Among the ministers, no one could take a stance against the President. He [Ahmadinejad] cannot tolerate criticism."
Meanwhile, pro-reform E'temad daily noted that Tahmaseb Mazaheri, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran remains the most serious critic of the administration's economic policies, standing up to Ahmadinejad. Although he does not voice his opposition in confrontational or overtly explicit terms, his refusal to enforce the presidential order to reduce the banking interest rates is an implicit warning to the President that internal criticism of those inside the cabinet has finally surfaced to the public. Such criticism in the past has resulted in the removal of the most prominent cabinet ministers and has pushed those who are still in the cabinet to the edge of dismissal.
The former interior minister is the thirteenth cabinet or senior ranking member of Ahmadinejad’s administration to have parted ways with the administration during its three years. The most important ministers and officials that have either resigned or been dismissed during Ahmadinejad's tenure are as follows: Davoud Danesh-Jafari (minister of finance and economy), Ali Larijani (head of National Security Council, Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh (oil minister), Mahmoud Farshidi (minister of education), Farhad Rahbar (president of Management and Planning Organization), Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr (deputy interior minister in security affairs), Rahman Fazli (deputy head of National Security Council), Alireza Tahmasbi (minister of industry), Ebrahim Sheibani (governor of Central Bank), Mohammad Nazemi Ardekani (minister of cooperatives), Parviz Kazemi (minister of welfare), and Jamal Karimi Rad (minister of justice).
As such, half of Ahmadinejad's original cabinet members are now outside the administration. One can hear the echoes of what Saeed Hajjarian once said, that Ahmadinejad's administration was "disintegrating" because "Iran has been thrown into anarchy."
Prior to Saeed Hajjarian's comments, the website of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper posted the comments of the former minister of culture and Islamic guidance during Khatami’s administration, in which Ataollah Mohajerani wrote that Ahmadinejad's star was finally tumbling down.
