TEHRAN - On Sunday, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad appointed Gholam-Hossein Nozari, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), as the caretaker oil minister. The decision came after Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh resigned the post.

The president also appointed Ali-Akbar Mehrabian as caretaker minister of industries and mines.
Earlier, a presidential advisor said Ahmadinejad had accepted the resignation of Minister of Industries and Mines Alireza Tahmasbi.
“Dr. Mahmud Ahmadinejad has accepted the resignation of Alireza Tahmasbi, the minister of industries and mines,” Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said during a visit to the Mehr News Agency and Tehran Times on Sunday.
Tahmasbi presented his resignation letter last week.
Ahmadinejad also expressed appreciation for the services of Vaziri-Hamaneh and Tahmasbi.
Ahmadinejad has appointed Vaziri-Hamaneh as the president’s advisor for oil and gas affairs.
Hashemi said the industries minister was replaced to strengthen and renovate the industrial sector and to establish better coordination between industrial sector activities and government plans.
The president’s advisor added that Mehrabian may be nominated to permanently assume the post of minister for industries and mines, which would require the approval of the Majlis