You ain't never had a friend like Esfandiar Raheem Mashaei

[The Mikado]

Minor tiff or major change in Iranian power?  No one really knows yet, but Ahmadinejad is having some very difficult times after his Chief of Staff and close ally Esfandiar Raheem Mashaei was arrested under orders from Ayatollah Khamenei himself under suspicion of being a sorcerer and djinn-summoner.  Suspicion grows that Ahmadinejad himself might be the next out the door...unless Mashaei's powerful djinni topple the clerics and put Ahmadinejad himself in total control.

Once, Scheherazade told a sultan a bedtime story of a boy that wrested control of a djinn and forced it to do his bidding.  Might Ayatollah Khamenei be wishing he could find a politician he could wrest control of and force to be his puppet president, rather than the rambunctious and problematic Ahmadinejad?

[Хahar 🤔]

One would think Ahmadinejad would be more pliant, given the gift Khamenei gave him. What happens if he resigns?

[The Mikado]

One would think Ahmadinejad would be more pliant, given the gift Khamenei gave him. What happens if he resigns?

If he does, then the Islamic Republic takes another step towards total domination by the clerics, I suppose?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13312907

To be completely honest, I don't know whether Ahmadinejad getting forced out would be good or bad at this point.

[Bacon King]

I doubt Khamenei wants to risk the upheaval that would occur if he directly canned Ahmadinejad, so he made this move as a threat to keep the President in line. Still, probably wouldn't work out too well for Ahmadinejad if he tries to call the bluff.