Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned and Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the government-owned National Iranian Oil Company, will be in charge of the ministry as acting minister, state media said on Sunday, without providing a reason for the resignation.
Mohsen Paknejad has been the oil minister of the OPEC member country since August 2024 and resigns as the seven-month war between Iran and the US puts pressure on the country’s economy.
“With acceptance of Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation by Dr. Pezeshkian [the country’s president], Hamid Bovard has been appointed as acting oil minister”, state media cited an official at the president’s office as saying.
Paknejad was cited by state media, ahead of the news of his resignation, as saying “revenues of the oil that we have sold are still coming and that will continue God willing”.
(Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; Editing by Alex Richardson)