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The Iranian-ruled parliament imploded Abdolnaser Hemmati, Minister of Economic and Finance, to cause major setbacks to President Masood Pezshkian’s reformist government.
The move highlights tensions in how to deal with Iran’s crisis, which Pezshki said was driven by U.S. sanctions and has become an economic “total war.”
Since taking office in August last year, lawmakers who voted to remove him blamed him for worsening the economic situation. They noted that during his tenure, the dollar depreciated against the dollar in the open market, and the prices of essential goods, including food and medicine, rose.
Of the 273 MPs at Sunday’s meeting, 182 voted for impeach, 89 opposed it, one abstained, and one vote was declared invalid.
Pezeshkian defended the minister, urging parliament not to fire key members of its government, believing that Iran faced a more serious crisis than the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
“We are in full swing war with the enemy [the US]. The war with Iraq has nothing [in comparison],” Pezeshkian told the councillor. “The enemy wants us to show divisions. How do we achieve significant economic changes in just six months? ”
The improperity comes amid a “maximum pressure” campaign launched by the U.S. government Donald Trump, who re-engineered sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program, similar to the measures he proposed in 2018 in the first semester.
Pezeshkian acknowledged that Iran was already struggling to sell oil due to the latest sanctions, and tankers “work hard to unload” the cargo.
Pezeshkian was elected last July on a platform pledging to seek sanctions relief, suggesting that the economic recovery depends on negotiations with Washington.
Hopes for new talks have become bleak, despite Pezeshkian’s senior diplomats expressing willingness to discuss the country’s nuclear program. A recent executive order by Trump has expanded U.S. sanctions, citing concerns not only about Iran’s nuclear activities, but also about its ballistic missile program and regional policies.
Hardwoods in Tehran believe that Washington is now seeking to completely deprive its strategic capabilities rather than negotiating a limited nuclear deal like the 2015 2015 Agreement that Trump later abandoned.
Pezeshkian admitted on Sunday that his support for the idea of talking to the United States was a “better” option, but reiterated his loyalty to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, who ruled out last month’s negotiations shortly after Trump announced his approach.
“When the Supreme Leader said we don’t negotiate with the United States, [abided by it and] Announced that we will not negotiate with the United States. This is the end of the story.
During the debate, some lawmakers accused Hermati of advocating for negotiations with Washington (he denied) and blamed sanctions for all Iran’s economic problems.
In his defense, Hanmati pointed out that his tenure was more deeply ingrained, including poverty and widespread corruption.
He noted that over the past seven years, 10 million Iranians have fallen below the poverty line, and it is estimated that $30 billion worth of goods will be smuggled every year due to economic preferences and political ties. He also highlighted acute problems in the banking and energy sectors.
“About 80% of people are crushed by smugglers, sanctions violations and people with special privileges,” Henmaty said. “The budget deficit.. Related to international development.”
