TEHRAN, June 21 (UPI) -- The Iranian foreign minister said Tuesday he appointed a new deputy after lawmakers started impeachment proceedings against him.
Iranian lawmakers submitted documents to impeach Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi because he picked a deputy, Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, whom Iranian officials said had a criminal record, state broadcaster Press TV reports.
Iranian law requires the signatures of 10 members of the 290-seat parliament in order to start impeachment proceedings against a sitting minister. A motion to impeach Salehi was submitted Tuesday with 33 signatures.
The broadcaster notes Malekzadeh backed away quickly in what was seen as an attempt to thwart the impeachment.
Salehi said he appointed Iran's former ambassador to Indonesia and Zimbabwe Behrouz Kamalvandi as his new choice for deputy.
Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, said the impeachment process would go forward unless lawmakers revoke the motion against Salehi.
The move comes as leading clerics and senior figures in the Revolutionary Guards have move away from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad has been at odds with the country's top clerical leader, Ali Khamenei, following a series of spats regarding investigations into Ahmadinejad's inner circle.
Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/06/21/Iranian-foreign-minister-faces-impeachment/UPI-61441308669601/.
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