Iran Constitutional Watchdog Says Ahmadinejad Can’t Hold Oil Minister Post

21 May 2011 | 18:28 Code : 12955 Latest Headlines

Bloomberg--The top Iranian legal authority said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s assumption of control over the Oil Ministry this month violates the constitution, signaling a deepening rift in the hierarchy as Iran chairs OPEC.

The Guardian Council, partly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that it was “unlawful” for Ahmadinejad to have taken up the post, citing Article 135 of Iran’s constitution, state-run Fars news agency reported today.

Ahmadinejad declared himself caretaker of the Oil Ministry in a May 15 interview on state television, a day after dismissing Masoud Mir-Kazemi and two other ministers as part of a plan to combine several departments to improve efficiency.

Iran, the second-largest crude producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, took over the group’s one-year rotating presidency on Jan. 1. Traditionally, the OPEC president, who is the sitting oil minister of the country holding the presidency at the time, gives a public speech on behalf of the organization at the start of each ministerial conference. Continued…