IRAN:POLITICIANS HAVE pounced on Iran's interior minister after president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ally admitted he had submitted a phoney degree from Oxford University to get a job as the country's top policeman.
In a letter to Mr Ahmadinejad released earlier this week, Ali Kordan admitted he used false credentials to bolster the case for receiving his position, whose duties including guarding against fraud and forgery in Iran's upcoming presidential elections.
He said he had been duped by an intermediary who had given him the degree. According to his letter, he submitted his qualifications eight years ago to an "an agency in Tehran for English-language affairs" that represents Oxford University.
He said he never doubted the authenticity of his honorary law degree, though it was filled with spelling and grammatical mistakes, until lawmakers began questioning his qualifications over the summer. Now, he wants to pursue the unnamed man he says granted him the degree.
"I found it necessary to send an envoy to the university and get reconfirmation," said the letter, which was excerpted last Monday by the semi-official Fars news agency. "Unbelievably, the degree was not confirmed. I tried to contact the liaison officer of Oxford University in Tehran and ask him the reasons. But the more I searched for him, the less I found any trace of him."
The controversy over Mr Kordan's credentials emerged after lawmakers began questioning his claim that he had the degree. He produced a certificate with the words, "University of Oxford" and "Honorary Law Doctorate" at the top. But Oxford quickly disavowed any connection to Mr Kordan.
The issue has raised questions about the qualifications of Mr Ahmadinejad's inner circle. His government has been criticised at home for mismanaging the country's economy and squandering oil wealth on populist projects.
Mr Kordan's claim that he was fooled by a con artist is being viewed suspiciously.
"Ali Kordan told lies to the parliament, therefore it is a case of fraud and he should be brought to justice because he has misused his vote of confidence," said Abbas Abdi, a moderate politician opposed to Mr Ahmadinejad.
Even if Mr Kordan's explanation is true, the fact that he didn't figure out his error-riddled degree was fake for eight years may hurt his credibility when he's overseeing presidential elections next year. After Iran's 2005 presidential elections, politicians accused officials of switching ballot boxes to tilt the results in favour of Mr Ahmadinejad. "If he's such a simpleton that he can be deceived about his own degree, then he can't be reliable for the position of interior minister," said Mr Abdi.
"Ali Kordan must resign, apologise and look for another job," said Ahmad Tavakoli, a prominent conservative lawmaker often at odds with Mr Ahmadinejad. But for now, at least, many lawmakers aren't pushing too hard to remove him, in part because he is seen as one of the more qualified for the job among Ahmadinejad loyalists. - ( LA Times-Washington Post)