Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned for personal reasons, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, appointed acting oil minister, state media reported on Sunday.
Mehdi Tabatabaei, communications deputy in the president’s office, told state television that Paknejad had submitted his resignation “a long time ago” and that President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted it at Paknejad’s insistence.
“With acceptance of Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation by Dr. Pezeshkian, Hamid Bovard has been appointed as acting oil minister,” Tabatabaei said, according to state media.
Paknejad had served as oil minister since August 2024.
Iran International reported on Sept. 8, citing two confidential documents from the Oil Ministry and the Supreme National Security Council, that large oil cargoes had been allocated on credit and at steep discounts to four indebted trustees. The report identified Mohammad Javad Bavand, appointed by Paknejad as special assistant for oversight of oil trading, as a central figure in managing a new network of intermediaries.
His resignation comes as Iran’s economy faces mounting pressure after seven months of war with the United States.
Before news of his resignation emerged, state media quoted Paknejad as saying revenues from Iran’s oil sales were still being received and would continue.
“Revenues of the oil that we have sold are still coming and that will continue, God willing,” he said.
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