The official IRNA news agency gave no reasons for the move, and reported that Ali Akbar Salehi, a vice-president and head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, would become caretaker foreign minister. (AFP)
Mottaki was fired as he was in the middle of a tour of African nations that took him to Senegal, where he delivered a message from Ahmadinejad to the West African nation's president on Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency. (AP)
Under Iranian law, the president has to submit his nominations for ministerial posts to parliament for approval. (AFP)
Analysts believe the dismissal may be part of a fight for power within the ruling conservative movement in Iran - between the president and parliament. (BBC)
Mr Mottaki is widely seen as an ally of the speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani. (BBC)
Mr Mottaki was the campaign manager [in 2005 presidential election] for one of Mr Ahmadinejad's rivals, Ali Larijani. (BBC)
Mr Mottaki and Mr Larijani are often described as part of a pragmatic conservative bloc that believes the president's inflammatory speeches and radical agenda have made Iran more vulnerable. (BBC)
The sacking of Manouchehr Mottaki is an indication of a struggle between the president and parliament in which the assembly has accused Ahmadinejad of concentrating more power in his own hands and riding roughshod over the views of lawmakers. (Reuters)
Ahmadinejad has delayed signing into law legislation passed by parliament, and held up funds due to be invested in Tehran, all the while insisting it is he who has precedence over the assembly within Iran's multi-layered political system. (Reuters)
Relations worsened when Mr Ahmadinejad's plans for presidential envoys stationed abroad were vetoed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei over the foreign ministry's concerns it would create a parallel diplomatic service. (BBC)
Khabaronline, a website close to the government, said Mottaki had "harshly criticized the president for setting up a parallel diplomatic apparatus." (Reuters)
Mr Mottaki had faced criticism in Iran over the international pressure on the country to halt its nuclear enrichment programme. (BBC)
U.S.-based Iran analyst Trita Parsi wrote that Salehi's appointment "may indicate the nuclearization of Iranian foreign policy." (Reuters)
"This move shows not only the internal tensions but the primacy of the nuclear issue as Iran's main foreign policy objective," said Rasool Nafisi, an expert on Iranian affairs at Strayer University in Virginia. (AP)
Source: AFP, AP, BBC, Reuters
Comments: Conflicts involving Muslims tend to end up with casualties of hundreds of thousands (West Papua, Darfur, Algeria, Iran-Iraq war, East Timor, Bangladesh war of Independence from Pakistan and partition of India and Pakistan, to name some) and even millions (southern Sudan) in recent times, without nuclear weapons.
It just might be Armageddon if they get nuclear weapons and become nuclear-suicide bombers.
In many Muslim cultures, so-called 'honor' and 'revenge' are very important and the humiliated foreign minister here will no doubt be looking for something equivalent to 'honor killing' in revenge.
Some previous similar or related stories:
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Iran will never use force against its neighbours because they are "Muslims"
Taqiyya vs Taqiyya, "they lie to us, and we lie to them" - Qatar Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani on relations with Iran
Iranian journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin jailed for insulting (megalomaniac or crazy) President Ahmadinejad & undermining establishment
A UN report says North Korea supplying Iran, Syria and Myanmar with ballistic and nuclear equipment
Gambia, without explanation, orders Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours
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