Iran’s Parliament processed Sunday a motion of censure against the Minister of Economy of the country and voted to dismiss him from his position in the midst of growing concerns about the fall of the rial and accusations of mismanagement.
Iran’s president, Masoud fishshkian, appointed this Sunday to Rahmatolá Akrami as Interim Economy Minister.
64 -year -old Akrami and Bachelor of Business Economics, that he held so far the position of Vice Minister of Economy In the country’s financial and treasury supervision, he was designated as an interim minister by fishshkian, the IRNA agency reported.
Now the Iranian president has a period of three months to officially present Parliament to his candidate to replace Hemmati, who was dismissed today by the Legislative with 182 votes in favor, 89 votes against, an abstention and a null vote of a total of 273 votes.
El president of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, He informed that 182 of the 273 legislators voted against Abdolnasser Hemati just six months after the Pezeshkian cabinet assumed the position.
Fishshkian, who defended Hemmati, He stressed that the government is engaged in a hard battle with the West. He made a call to more unity and cooperation of Parliament to face those challenges.
The decision occurred in the midst of growing tensions about Iran’s nuclear program and the worsening of relations with the West. Iran’s economy has been seriously affected by international sanctions, especially after the United States withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement.
In 2015, The rial was sold for 32,000 per dollar, but by the time fishshkian took office in July, it had fallen to 584,000 rials per dollar. Recently further fell, and the exchange houses in Tehran handled a change of 930,000 rials for every dollar.
During the dismissal process, Mohammad Qasim Osmani, a legislator who supported Hemmati, argued that the increase in inflation and change rates were not the fault of the current government or Parliament. Pointed out the budget deficit left by the previous government, which, according to him, contributed to economic instability.
Osmani also cited recent geopolitical events such as factors that undermined public trust, which led many people to turn their savings into foreign currency, which in turn devalued the rial further.
Hemmati pointed to the difficult economic climate during his five months in office, in which inflation was reduced by 10%. However, he acknowledged that inflation remained high, 35%. He assured the legislators that his team was working hard to address the problem, but warned that the process would take time.
The political trial was part of the continuous political and economic struggles of Iran while the country continues to go through a complex situation in its relations with the international community.