In the ongoing political skirmishes among Iran's leadership, it was the equivalent of bringing out the heavy ammunition: The country's most powerful figure warning that the post of elected president could someday be scrapped. Although no overhauls appear on the immediate horizon after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comment — he spoke only vaguely about possibilities in the “distant future” — the mere mention of eliminating Iran's highest elected office shows the severity and scope of the power struggle between Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. For months, the ruling theocracy has been piling pressure on Ahmadinejad and arresting his allies for attempts to challenge the near-absolute authority of the cleric-ruled system that has controlled Iran since the 1979 Revolution. The blunt words by Khamenei on Sunday suggest a two-fold agenda: Further tightening the lid on Ahmadinejad and showing others in the wings that Iran's rulers are ready to take drastic measures to protect what's theirs. “There is bad blood,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, who follows Iranian affairs at Syracuse University. “Khamenei is trying to make it very clear that the system can only handle so much discord and that he holds the stronger cards.” It also marks one of the first clear hints of the ruling clerics' hardball strategies for parliamentary elections in March. Khamenei and his allies are expected to use their many tools, including the ability to vet and block candidates, to try to steamroll Ahmadinejad's backers and push the president — once Khamenei's protege — farther into the political margins.
