Iran impeaches Finance Minister over economic mismanagement charges

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iranian parliament (Majlis) in a public session on Sunday impeached the Minister of Finance, Masoud Karbasian, as the country’s economy continues to deteriorate.

In the session, 137 members of parliament voted for the motion impeaching Karbasian, an economist with ties with Iran’s reformists, defeating the 121 who voted against the move.

According to Iranian outlet ISNA, Ishaq Jahangiri, vice president of the Islamic Republic, was present during the session.

“During Karbasian’s term, the purchasing power of the people has decreased by 50 percent, 9 to 18 billion dollars of the country’s wealth has been ransacked, and 57 tons of gold bars and coins have been lost,” Hossein Ali Haji Daligani, a member of the Planning and Budget Committee of the Majlis, asserted during the session.

Earlier this month, the US re-imposed a set of sanctions on Iran dealing with the import of Iranian metals and automobiles. The more important sanctions, however, are set to take effect on November 5 and will include Iran’s oil, financial, and shipping sectors.

Since the sanctions were re-imposed, Iran’s currency, the Rial, plummeted in value and protests erupted over the struggling economy and Tehran’s costly involvement in regional conflicts.

Jalil Rahimi, the representative of Razavi Khorasan Province, also complained about the state of the country, arguing the Ministry of Finance is “incapable of economic management.”

“The year 1396 [2017] was one of the good years in the country, but we ran into some turbulence which caused the current state of affairs,” Karbasian said, responding to his accusers.

“The root of [the current problems] is the negligence of the administration,” argued back.

Editing by Nadia Riva