Interrogation Sessions for Ministers of Rouhani's Cabinet Begin

The interrogation sessions for the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare and the Minister of Roads and Urban Development in Hassan Rouhani's cabinet began on the morning of Tuesday, March 22. The Parliament is set to review the impeachment of these two ministers in morning and afternoon sessions. In addition to the ministers whose impeachment sessions have begun, Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Iran, as well as the Ministers of Defense, Communications, Energy, and the Governor of the Central Bank also participated as government representatives in the session on Tuesday. The lack of a report regarding the Sanchi oil tanker incident, which resulted in the deaths of 32 crew members, is cited as one of the main reasons for the impeachment, along with 'neglect of workers' rights' and 'the poor condition of pension funds' as other reasons for the impeachment of Ali Rabiei. Mr. Rabiei will be impeached in the morning session. Abbas Akhoundi is also facing new criticisms due to the crash of an Aseman Airlines plane on the Tehran-Yasouj route. He has also been accused by Parliament representatives of 'inability to confront existing crises in the country's transportation system', 'lack of oversight over the air and ground fleet', and 'failure to implement programs presented to the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the renewal of public transport fleet'. Mr. Akhoundi's impeachment session will be held in the afternoon. Additionally, Mahmoud Hojjati, the Minister of Agricultural Jihad, is also set to be impeached, partly due to what representatives have called 'inability to regulate the agricultural product market'. The Parliament's presiding board stated on March 19 that Mr. Hojjati's session will be held on Wednesday. These three cases are the first impeachment sessions in Rouhani's second term. Previously, several representatives of the so-called 'Hope' faction had written a letter to the President of Iran requesting that Mr. Rabiei and Mr. Akhoundi, the Ministers of Labor and Roads and Urban Development, resign from their positions.