Iran’s Oil Ministry rejects claims of reshuffle

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Apr. 12 – Iran’s Oil Ministry rejected on Thursday reports earlier this week that its chief official would soon be sacked or forced to retire. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Apr. 12 – Iran’s Oil Ministry rejected on Thursday reports earlier this week that its chief official would soon be sacked or forced to retire.

Reports had surfaced in Iran’s official media that Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh would soon face the sack for failing to run the ministry in line with the plans of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Vaziri-Hamaneh is a veteran Oil Ministry official who served in the previous government as a deputy oil minister.

The state-run news agency Fars quoted “informed sources” as saying he would be replaced by Ali Kordan, Gholam-Hossein Nozari, or Ali-Asghar Zarei, with Kordan being the favourite to win the post due to his background in administrative tasks.

In a statement, however, the Oil Ministry maintained that Vaziri-Hamaneh’s time in office had been extended until the end of Ahmadinejad’s tenure.

The important portfolio of Oil Minister was vacant for several months when Ahmadinejad became President in late 2005, as deputies in the hardline-dominated Majlis (Parliament) voted down three other nominees for the job on the grounds that they were not capable of handling the vital oil sector.

Iran ranks second in oil production among the OPEC states, accounting for some 80 percent of the country’s export revenues.