TEHRAN -- Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) Research Center Director Taha Hashemi quit after three years of working in this job.

CHTHO’s Public Relations Office announced on Tuesday that he was resigning because of illness, and CHTHO’s Director Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii has accepted it.
A rumor of his resignation had previously spread at CHTHO; however no CHTHO official confirmed it over the past few days.
During a press conference held in June, Hashemi had criticized CHTHO for the constant reduction of the center’s budget and described it as the major factor thwarting the center’s plans.
A cleric and a physician, Hashemi was one of the many persons appointed by Rahim-Mashaii after Mahmud Ahmadinejad won the presidential election in 2005.