TEHRAN, June 28 (UPI) -- A new body set up by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will supervise the Islamic country's foreign policy.
The Financial Times says some Iranian politicians see this as a move to counterbalance the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran currently is under international pressure to curtail its nuclear enrichment program which the United States and Europe believe is designed to make nuclear weapons. Iran so far has not responded to an incentive package offered by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, the report said.
Ahmadinejad has promised to respond by Aug. 22 but U.S. and EU officials want it much earlier.
Khamenei's new Strategic Committee for Foreign Policy will be headed by Kamal Kharrazi, foreign minister under former President Mohammad Khatami. The supreme leader said the committee will "help facilitate macro-decision making ... find new horizons ... and make use of intellectuals."
Kharrazi said although the committee would have no executive function, it may include "experts from previous governments," the report said.
