MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, the Iranian president, suffered a serious blow yesterday when parliament sacked his interior minister for faking a law degree from Oxford University.
Ali Kordan, a powerful figure on Iran's complex political scene, was told by the Majlis (parliament) he must face impeachment after he also admitted trying to bribe MPs not to proceed against him.
By backing Mr Kordan until the eve of the parliament's vote on his minister's future, the president has tarnished his reputation as a fighter against corruption.
"This is a serious setback to Ahmadinejad and a triumph for parliament," Sadegh Zibakalam, a Tehran University political scientist, said. "In the past he has treated this Majlis with contempt, or as a rubber stamp."
Mr Kordan's job included domestic security as well as organising next summer's presidential elections, in which the hardline Mr Ahmadinejad is expected to stand. Yesterday's vote suggests his chances of winning a second term may be diminishing. Ali Larijani, the Majlis speaker, said 188 deputies among the 247 present in the 290-member assembly voted to sack Mr Kordan.
The Kordan saga began in August when parliament, which vets ministerial appointments, voted on his confirmation. When MPs questioned his eligibility he produced a certificate purporting to be an "honorary doctorate of law" from Oxford and was approved by a slim margin.
Within days, Iranian journalists were following up claims that the degree was bogus. Mr Kordan released a copy of the document to quell speculation. But Alef, a website associated with one of Mr Ahmadinejad's critics, pointed to typing errors, garbled English and misspellings, purportedly signed by three Oxford professors.
The certificate commended Mr Kordan for "research in the domain of comparative law that has opened a new chapter not only in our university but, to our knowledge, this country". Alef passed it to Oxford, which disavowed it. It later transpired he did not hold a bachelor's or a master's degree from Iran's Open University.
Mr Ahmadinejad defended Mr Kordan by saying the disgraced minister should not be judged on a "piece of torn paper", a phrase he has used to dismiss UN resolutions against Iran's nuclear programme.
One MP said the president could have won millions of votes by simply dismissing Mr Kordan and that his support would cost him those votes next summer.
Mr Ahmadinejad is notorious in the West for his comments on Israel and the Holocaust. But most Iranians care more about the economic incompetence he has demonstrated in recent months.
Declining oil revenues have exposed his populist spending plans and left the state coffers almost empty. In July he predicted oil prices would never fall below $100 a barrel. Yesterday the price was about $63.