Minister's sacking deals painful blow to Iranian government
The Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament of Iran), which is controlled by a hard-line force, has dealt a blow to the government of Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, by sacking Minister of Industry, Reza Fatemi-Amin, for failing to deal with the economic crisis of his country.
This also came amid
rumours about the minister being implicated in corruption.
Nevertheless, the new
motion by the Iranian parliament rings the alarm for the government of the
country's president, which has come under fire since its inauguration in August
last year.
MPs also called for
questioning the foreign minister, against the background of his failure to
manage some foreign policy files, including the nuclear agreement crisis and
the continued presence of US sanctions on Iran.
Minister's
sacking
Iranian MPs withdrew
confidence from the minister of industry during a session on May 1.
Around 162 MPs voted for
the decision, out of a total of 272, while 102 MPs abstained from voting.
The MPs voting in favour
of the minister's sacking attributed the move to the minister's mismanagement
of Iran's acute economic crisis and the country's growing inflation which has
risen to 50%.
Iran is the subject of
tough US sanctions that have caused the collapse of its economy and the decline
of its local currency.
Things got worse after
the negotiations to revive Iran's nuclear agreement with the West failed in
Vienna after almost nine sessions.
This made the suffering
of ordinary Iranians worse. This also came while an international economic
crisis continued to assume new proportions because of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The decision to sack the
minister of industry has been on the table inside the parliament for some time.
Nonetheless, pro-Iranian regime media had consistently denied it.
On June 20, the spokesman
for the Iranian Ministry of Industry denied rumours that the minister had resigned.
Placating
Iranians
The minister's sacking
raises questions about its implications for the situation in Iran.
Some people believe the
parliament's move will energize some resignations in the Iranian government.
Regional Director of
al-Rafidain International Centre for Justice and Human Rights, Hanan
Abdullatif, said the minister's sacking is an attempt by the parliament to
placate ordinary Iranians.
"Anger keeps rising
on Iranian streets day after day," Abdullatif told The Reference.
She added that things
have got worse in Iran to the extent that some Iranians are calling for the
country's mullahs to step down.
