Iranian lawmaker Hamid-Reza Katouzian said Saturday that the appointment of Mohammad Aliabadi as the caretaker of Iran’s Oil Ministry is “the worst choice” for the country’s oil and gas industries, local satellite Press TV reported.
“This is the worst choice for the oil and gas industry, and such decisions endanger the country,” Katouzian, head of the Majlis (Parliament) Energy Commission was quoted as saying.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed Aliabadi as the caretaker oil minister in a decree on Thursday.
Aliabadi has no experience or expertise in the oil and gas fields, said Katouzian, adding that the caretaker minister is not familiar with oil production or problems in the industry and he does not know the international situation.
As an Iranian politician, Aliabadi has served as the deputy minister of road and transportation, deputy mayor of Tehran, vice president in Ahmadinejad’s administration and the chief of Iran’s Body Training Organization.
Ahmadinejad said last month that he would run the oil ministry as a caretaker following his move to remove some ministers and to merge some ministries. Iran’s Guardian Council of the Constitution called the president’s move as “illegal.”
Source: Xinhua