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Iran government in ambassadorial purge

Iran`s hard-line government said Wednesday it was removing 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of warmer ties with the West, from their posts in a shake-up that comes as the Islamic Republic has taken a more confrontational international stance. The moves give the new government of ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the chance to purge pro-reform figures brought in by his predecessor, moderate Mohammad Khatami.

The new president, elected in June, also generated a storm of international criticism last week when he called for Israel`s eradication, saying it should be "wiped off the map." Iran was censured by the United Nations Security Council as a result of the remarks, the first time the council has rebuked a Muslim member of the United Nations for anti-Israel comments.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the changes to parliament, saying "the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire by the end of the year," which is March 20 under the Iranian calendar. Mottaki, quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, did not specify which ambassadors were among those being removed.