Impeachment of Economy Minister in Pezeshkian's Government; Parliament Denies Confidence to Hemmati

At the end of the impeachment session for Abdolnaser Hemmati, the Minister of Economy in Masoud Pezeshkian's government, held on Sunday, March 3, in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, he was unable to gain the confidence of the parliament members once again. On Sunday, after speeches from supporters and opponents of Hemmati's continued work in the Ministry of Economy, the representatives voted against him. Masoud Pezeshkian, the President, himself went to the parliament to defend his economy minister and stated in his speech that one of the solutions to the country's economic problems is dialogue with the United States, but he has been prohibited from doing so by Ali Khamenei. Hamidreza Hajibabaei, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, announced on Wednesday, February 20, the receipt of the impeachment proposal for Abdolnaser Hemmati and stated that this session would be held on March 3, and the minister must appear in the parliament within ten days. Concurrently with the determination of the impeachment day for the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, the price of the dollar in Iran continued its upward trend on February 20, reaching 92,500 tomans. This figure increased on the day of the impeachment, and unofficial websites showing the prices of foreign currencies in the Iranian free market recorded the price of the US dollar at 92,700 tomans. Over the past six months, since the beginning of Masoud Pezeshkian's government, the value of the Iranian rial against the dollar has decreased by about 50%, despite all the measures that the government claims to have taken to make the dollar 'single-rate.' Critics of Abdolnaser Hemmati argue that he has not been able to demonstrate that the government's economic policies will effectively reduce the price of the dollar and lessen the impact of foreign economic sanctions. In this context, a representative from Mashhad in the parliament, among those supporting Hemmati's impeachment, stated on Tuesday during the impeachment session: 'We do not expect all economic problems of the country to be solved in six months, but at least during this period, economic trends should show signs of improvement or at least maintain the current situation.' Meanwhile, Masoud Pezeshkian defended his economy minister by saying that he is not solely responsible for decision-making regarding economic policies to be impeached alone and held accountable alone. On the day of the announcement of Hemmati's impeachment date, he said: 'All economic decisions and policies are made in the Supreme Council of Economic Coordination of the three branches, and to blame one person is unfair.' On Tuesday, Masoud Pezeshkian also went to the parliament to defend Abdolnaser Hemmati and continued this position that not all problems are created by Hemmati and he alone will not be able to solve them, saying: 'Many times I do not want to mention issues to avoid discouraging the people and society.' However, he continued: 'Iraq, Turkey, and other countries indebted to Iran are not repaying their debts. With Trump's signature, many of the country's oil tankers and gas ships are stranded at sea, and they think about how to deliver energy to the destination.' He continued his speech by stating that one of the solutions to the country's economic problems is dialogue with the United States, but he has been prohibited from doing so by Ali Khamenei. He said: 'I believe that dialogue with the United States solves problems, but when the leadership said we should not talk to the US, we said yes, we will not talk. I believe in dialogue, but we stand on the leadership's opinion and based on our beliefs.' Masoud Pezeshkian mentioned that 'my opinion was that dialogue is better,' and said that 'now some people are releasing clips of my words saying that so-and-so is in favor of negotiation; yes, I have said this.' He added that 'the leadership determines the direction of work, and to accompany them, the direction of work must change, and this takes time.' It seems the President's reference is to Ali Khamenei's speech on February 8, where he acknowledged the 'problems of the country' but stated that negotiations with Donald Trump's government are 'not wise, not intelligent, not honorable.' Donald Trump signed a decree on February 5 to reinstate the so-called 'maximum pressure' policy against Iran, defining the goal of bringing Iran's oil exports to 'zero.' Pezeshkian warned the parliament members that removing a minister is not a solution to the problems. In an effort to dissuade representatives from voting negatively against Hemmati, he said: 'We, like you, want the problems of society and the people to be solved, but I fear that with the path you have taken, problems will worsen. By God, management cannot change in six months.'