Iran's minister of economy survives impeachment

Iran's minister of economic affairs and finance on Tuesday survived impeachment by the parliament. Shamseddin Hosseini was spared impeachment as 141 lawmakers cast votes against it. Out of the 244 votes, 93 were in favor of his impeachment while 10 abstained. Last week, Iranian lawmakers filed an impeachment motion against Hosseini over the recent financial embezzlement scandal in the Islamic Republic. Hosseini faced the impeachment on Tuesday over the recently- disclosed 2.6-billion-U.S.-dollar financial scandal in some of the Islamic Republic's banks. In the parliament session on Tuesday, Hosseini apologized to the people and accepted that there have been some problems on the structural and organizational levels and in the management system of the banks. He said that he has not resigned so far since he thought he had to make up for the scandal which had happened during his tenure. He also acknowledged lawmakers' concerns that the monitoring system over the performance of banks requires more attention. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was also in the parliament session on Tuesday defended the minister and asked lawmakers to recast their votes of confidence in Hosseini. Ahmadinejad said that anybody in any position, if commits corruption, should be punished. He also said that main defendants in the embezzlement case should be severely punished. According to media reports, nearly 2.6 billion U.S. dollars was swindled out of several Iranian banks in more than two years by a company named Amir Mansour Aria, whose owner took advantage of some governmental recommendations to purchase assets of some state- owned enterprises, including Iran's second largest steel maker Khuzestan Steel Company. Iranian Central Bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani said earlier that the owner also attempted to establish a bank but failed. Ahmadinejad already announced his government would start banking system reforms this year.