In Irans power struggle,Khamenei says post of president can be eliminated

The supreme leader,Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,told an academic gathering last week that changing Iran into a parliamentary system in which voters no longer elected a president would not be a problem. His words were widely seen as the latest blow in a battle that began in April when Ahmadinejad crossed a line by openly feuding with Khamenei who has the final word in affairs of state over cabinet appointments.

Some analysts see the power struggle as a legacy of the disputed 2009 presidential election,when accusations of rigging deepened rifts and reduced the supreme leaders support among the public and the political elite. Although Ahmadinejad had the supreme leaders support in both the 2009 and 2005 elections,the president has tried to build an independent power base,and conservatives feel threatened by his vision of an Iran less dominated by clerics.

Khameneis veiled attack on the presidency has drawn polarised responses. Ali Larijani,the speaker of Parliament and a rival to Ahmadinejad,endorsed the comments and called for a parliamentary system. A former president,Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,who has at times sparred with the supreme leader,warned that eliminating the presidency would be contrary to the Constitution and would weaken the peoples power of choice, according to the newspaper Aftab News.