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Ahmadinejad to attend next OPEC meet

18 May 2011 16:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month, vice president for parliamentary affairs says. APA reports with reference to Press TV.

â€œThe caretaker of Iran’s Oil Ministry will attend the OPEC meeting,â€ Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the bloc’s next ministerial meeting that is slated to be held in Austrian capital of Vienna on June 8.

President Ahmadinejad announced Monday that he will temporarily run the Oil Ministry following his decision to relieve three Iranian ministers of their duties as part of a plan to merge a number of ministries.

â€œThe Iranian government and Parliament (Majlis) have a consensus on the Oil Ministry mergerâ€¦ and I am the caretaker for the Oil Ministry,â€ he said in a televised speech.

The vice president said Iran holds the one-year rotating presidency of the OPEC and added that in case the organization holds any meetings, the president or a government representative will participate in them.

â€œThis will improve the position of Iran’s Oil Ministry,â€ Mir-Tajeddini pointed out.

On Saturday, President Ahmadinejad issued three separate decrees, dismissing Welfare Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, Minister of Mines and Industries Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi from their posts, in accordance to the 53rd article of the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan, while thanking them for their public service.

According to Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), the Iranian government is obliged to reduce its ministries form 21 to 17 with the objective of improving the efficiency of government administration.