Tehran, July 19 (Reuters): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire from leading hardliners for naming as his top deputy a man who said Iran was friends with everyone, including arch foe Israel, local media said today.

Iran’s state-run English language Press TV said Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie “no longer wanted the job” of first Vice-President and had resigned because of the row.

Analysts say Ahmadinejad’s decision to appoint Mashaie, to whom he is related by marriage, suggests that the President has a small entourage of people he trusts.

In a rare public criticism, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, an Ahmadinejad ally and member of Iran’s top legislative body, said today that Ahmadinejad had shown “a twisted face to clerics and elites” by appointing Mashaie.

UK official released

Iran released local British embassy employee Hossein Rassam on bail today, his lawyer said, three weeks after he was detained on charges of inciting unrest following the country’s disputed presidential election.