Iran - "a coup d'état"?

That's what some are calling it.

Iran is facing political paralysis as its newly elected president purges government institutions, bringing accusations that he is undertaking a coup d'état.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's clearout of his opponents began last month but is more sweeping than previously understood and has reached almost every branch of government, the Guardian has learned. Dozens of deputy ministers have been sacked this month in several government departments, as well the heads of the state insurance and privatisation organisations. Last week, seven state bank presidents were dismissed in what an Iranian source described as "a coup d'état".

And not everyone is happy about it.

In a sign of divisions at the top of the clerical establishment, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has until now supported Mr Ahmadinejad, said "irregularities" in the government's behaviour would not be tolerated.

Iranian sources said opinion in the conservative-controlled majlis [parliament], which initially welcomed the president's election, was becoming uneasy. There has been a series of rows about Mr Ahmadinejad's nominees to top ministry jobs, including in the oil ministry. The stock market has fallen 30% since the new president took office, and there is growing criticism of his failure to deliver on promises to create jobs and raise living standards.

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