THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, suffered a further blow on Thursday after one of his closest aides was arrested, in an escalation of a feud with the Islamic state's Supreme Leader.
Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh who was forced to resign as deputy foreign minister on Tuesday just days after his appointment after a backlash from mainstream conservatives loyal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges.
Mr Malekzadeh was a senior official in the high council of Iranian foreign affairs, run by Mr Ahmadinejad's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, whom conservatives accuse of disloyalty.
Western officials based in Tehran said Mr Ahmadinejad was under pressure after an unsuccessful power grab in which he had tried to install loyalists in the powerful intelligence and oil ministries. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, June 23, 2011
