Reading the article by Fisk there it comes across the other way round if you ask me PJ, the religious elite have had enough of Ahmadinejad so there cutting him down to size so he cannot earmark any kind of successor. (he cant run in 2013) If Kahmenei does not intervene he might transfer his popularity to someone else and undermine the Ayatollah's powerbase.

I predict Ahmadinejad will miracle of miracles have a Pauline conversion or he is gone by the end of the year, some economic scandal will be fed to the media and game set and match Khamenei.