Minister’s sacking deals painful blow to Iranian government

Noura Bendari

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.