TEHRAN – Preparations for the merger of the transport and housing ministries have been completed and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will declare the order for the merger by the end of the current Iranian calendar month, which started on March 21, the Fars News Agency reported on Saturday.

After the impeachment of Transport Minister Hamed Behbahani in February, Ahmadinejad criticized the parliament’s decision as “illegal” and announced that the transport and housing ministries would be merged.
The impeachment followed the crash of an Iran Air Boeing 727 which occurred near Urmia, the capital city of West Azarbaijan province, on January 9 in which 78 passengers were killed and 33 were injured.