Iran’s parliament impeaches Ahmadinejad ally

Iran’s parliament impeached a Cabinet minister on Tuesday after he admitted having a fake degree from Oxford University, in a vote widely seen as a defeat for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The dismissal of Interior Minister Ali Kordan was the first high-profile confrontation between the new parliament and Ahmadinejad. It was seen a vote of no-confidence in the president and a sign that the leader’s popularity is tumbling, even with his conservative allies.

The interior minister in Iran is a powerful position in charge of holding elections and local administrations throughout the country.

During Kordan’s confirmation debate, numerous lawmakers argued he was unqualified, some claiming that his Oxford degree was a fake. Kordan was approved Aug. 5 by a relatively slim margin of around 160 of the 269 lawmakers present, a reflection of the concerns.