Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad resigned citing personal reasons, as the Islamic Republic tries to sustain its oil industry under a tightening US blockade.
President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted Paknejad’s resignation letter on Sunday after rejecting several earlier requests by the oil official to step down, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Pezeshkian appointed Deputy Oil Minister and National Iranian Oil Company Managing Director, Hamid Bovard, as interim minister, state-run Shana reported. Bovard previously headed several NIOC subsidiaries focused on oil and gas production and exploration.
The new minister inherits an oil industry that’s under unprecedented pressure from the US, as Washington seeks to force a favorable end to its seven-month war with Tehran.
A US naval blockade in the Persian Gulf has brought Iran’s oil exports – a key source of revenue – to a halt, in turn forcing the industry to cut production. Iran also faces shortages of gasoline and natural gas that have been exacerbated by the war.
The reshuffle also comes amid increasing scrutiny of the network of intermediaries that Iran relies on to get around US sanctions.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i has criticized the system of so-called “trustees” who facilitate crude oil sales and are accused of failing to repatriate the proceeds.
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