The Washington Post reports that the Iranian Parliament is getting ready to impeach Interior Minister Ali Kordan for his “dishonesty” in presenting a fake law degree from Oxford University. This is significant not only in the public humiliation and embarrassment it has caused Mr. Ahmadinejad in appointing Mr. Kordan, but because he has already made 21 changes in his cabinet and making another change would push him closer to having to re-submit his entire cabinet to the Parliament for a vote of confidence. The Iranian Constitution stipulates if more than half of a cabinet’s ministers are replaced, the entire cabinet must be re-approved.
It looks like this particular lie was a little bigger than could be chewed, even by IRI standards. In view of the economic problems ailing Mr. Ahmadinejad these days, a very critical Parliament headed by Ali Larijani is not going to get him off the hook so easily.
Ali Kordan’s woes are not limited to the law degree from Oxford, either. He had also claimed that he had received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Azad University–a claim refuted by Azad University who announced Azad University has never awarded any degrees to Mr. Kordan. In order to qualify as a minister in Iran, he would need to have a college degree.
What, if anything, do you suppose Ali Kordan can say now to save his sorry rear end? What can Mr. Ahmadinejad do to help his friend’s appointment and to save his own face? Some people believe a bigger lie could help recovery from smaller lies. After all, if you tell a big enough lie, usually people won’t challenge you, right? So, what could that lie be? Any suggestions?
Here’s the link to that Washington Post report:
