Iran’s supreme religious leader publicly rebuked the country’s president on Monday over his removal of an official who organizes the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The rare show of discontent by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued in the Iranian news media on Monday, raised questions about whether the ayatollah was backing away from his support of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the June 12 elections. Ayatollah Khamenei holds ultimate power in Iran, at the top of the clerical hierarchy above elected officials. If he is seen as turning away from Mr. Ahmadinejad, the president’s conservative base could take it as a signal to back another candidate
