Reuters is quoting a Fars News Agency report that says the Iranian Foreign Ministry is recalling forty ambassadors, many who are known to have supported the “rioters” in the post-election crisis.
Citing informed sources, Fars said late on Tuesday that the envoys were given notification that their diplomatic postings had been terminated. It did not give details on which ambassadors were affected.
“Some of these people officially took positions during the recent riots in Iran in support of rioters,” Fars said. “It is supposed that the new ambassadors will be selected from committed experts loyal to the basis of the (1979 Islamic) revolution,” it said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi noted the periodic change in forty or so ambassadors is normal. A similar purge of envoys occurred just after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in August of 2005; then, reformist allies of Mohammad Khatami were targeted.
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