Iran ex-foreign minister says his dismissal was offensive

Former Iranian FM, Manouchehr Mottaki

Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranian foreign minister who was recently removed through a sudden dismissal by Ahmadinejad, hit out at the administration describing his dismissal “un-Islamic, outside political practices, undiplomatic and offensive.”

According to Mehr news agency, Mottaki denied the Vice-president, Mohammadreza Rahimi’s statement that he was privy to Ahamdinejad’s intention to replace him with Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian head of Atomic Agency.

Mottaki was dismissed on Monday while he was on a diplomatic mission in Senegal.

Manouchehr Mottaki also announced that he was not even informed about the farewell ceremony which took place yesterday.

Yesterday a farewell ceremony was held for Manouchehr Mottaki during which the Vice-president contended that Mr. Mottaki was aware of the changes announced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before starting on his trip to Senegal.

The ceremony was reportedly held up for 45 minutes for Manouchehr Mottaki to show up and then carried out without his presence.

Manouchehr Mottaki announced today that he was not told about the date for his farewell ceremony and the introduction of Salehi.

An Ahmadinejad aide insisted today that Mottaki had been informed about everything.

Prior to the dismissal, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had had several disputes with his former foreign minister over assigning special envoys to different areas of the world.

The manner in which Mottaki was dismissed has been criticized by several Iranian officials. Speaker for the parliament, Ali Larijani described Ahamdinejad’s move as “inappropriate” saying: “If the intention was to replace the foreign minister, it was only right to do it tactfully and respectfully with regards to the minister, not when he is travelling, which fuels inappropriate interpretations of the country's situation.”