Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will remain caretaker of the oil ministry, a vice president said, challenging the top legislative watchdog that said the president could not hold the position.
"This is a done deal and the president is the caretaker of this ministry," vice president for legal affairs, Fatemeh Bodaghi, was quoted as saying by Iran's official news agency ISNA. "If we put all the Guardian Council's interpretations together, no new development should happen in this matter."
The powerful council has the final say in all legal and legislative matters. It said Sunday that Ahmadinejad's self appointment as caretaker of the oil ministry went against the constitution.
The new reaction to the ruling of the Guardian Council would heat up recent tensions between the legislative power and the head of the executive power, who has been strongly criticized for his "violations of law."
On May 15, Ahmadinejad dismissed Iranian oil minister Masoud Mirkazemi. It was said to be part of the merger of the oil and power ministries, which has not happened yet.
Ahmadinejad's representative in parliament, Mohammad Reza Mirtajeddini, has said that if Ahmadinejad holds the responsibility until the June 8 OPEC meeting in Vienna, he will represent Iran, which currently holds the presidency of OPEC.
Under the law, the president must immediately appoint a caretaker for any ministry after the departure of a minister. The president then has three months to introduce a new minister for parliament's approval.
Iran's oil ministry is responsible for about 80% of the country's income and is known as the backbone of the economy of OPEC's second-biggest exporter.
