TEHRAN, Iran Iran's parliament impeached a Cabinet minister on Tuesday after he admitted having a fake degree from Oxford University, in a vote widely seen as a defeat for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dismissal of Interior Minister Ali Kordan was the first high-profile confrontation between the new parliament and Ahmadinejad.
It was seen a vote of no-confidence in the president and a sign that the leader's popularity is tumbling, even with his conservative allies.
The interior minister in Iran is a powerful position in charge of holding elections and local administrations throughout the country.
During Kordan's confirmation debate, numerous lawmakers argued he was unqualified, some claiming that his Oxford degree was a fake. Kordan was approved Aug. 5 by a relatively slim margin of around 160 of the 269 lawmakers present, a reflection of the concerns.
Kordan initially argued that his degree was real. The Interior Ministry put out a certificate, with an Oxford seal and dated June 2000, meant to prove its authenticity. It was riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes.
Oxford denied it had ever awarded an honorary doctorate of law to the minister, who then admitted the degree was fake.
Ahmadinejad defended Kordan, dismissing degrees in general as "torn paper" not necessary for serving the people.
The president was already under attack from both reformers and conservatives, who brought him to power but now complain he spends too much time on fiery anti-U.S. rhetoric rather than managing the country.
