President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced another sharp rebuke from opponents in parliament Tuesday as lawmakers dismissed his transportation minister in the wake of several deadly plane crashes in the country. The vote highlights the growing political fissures between Ahmadinejad and former conservative allies in parliament who accuse him of overstepping his powers, not being transparent and mismanaging the economy.
Ahmadinejad appears in no danger of being toppled, but his critics could step up attacks before parliamentary elections early next year. The voting will mark the first key political test for Ahmadinejad's opponents since the turmoil after his disputed re-election in June 2009.
The impeachment vote against Transport Minister Hamid Behbahani which passed 147-78 with nine abstentions was the most direct attack by the conservative-dominated parliament against Ahmadinejad's government. Behbahani was immediately dismissed.
Critics of Behbahani have cited mismanagement, financial misappropriations, plane crashes and Iran's high death toll in road accidents. In early January, 77 people died when a Boeing-727, operated by Iran's national airline, crashed during emergency landing in a snowstorm in north-western Iran. Behbahani and Ahmadinejad didn't attend the open parliamentary session, provoking parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani to denounce the no-show as a ``violation' of procedure. In November, dozens of Iranian lawmakers signed a petition seeking to make Ahmadinejad the first president to be summoned for questioning since the Islamic Revolution 32 years ago.
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