00:22GMT—8:22PM/EST
POUR-MOHAMMADI – NIYAZI – SIO
Washington, 2 June (IranVNC)—Iran’s Judiciary Chief, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, appointed former interior minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, to head of Iran’s State Inspectorate Organization [SIO], after the dismissal of former chief, Mohammad Niyazi on Sunday.
Pour-Mohammadi was removed from his position as interior minister in May over reported differences with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. An important political figure, Pour-Mohammadi has served as prosecutor-general for the Islamic Revolution Court in Khuzestan Province, as a judge in political prisoner trials, head of the Center for Strategic Studies for National Security, chief of foreign intelligence, deputy intelligence minister, advisor to the supreme leader on political and social affairs, and interior minister.
Pour-Mohammadi’s new appointment is seen by some as a further move in intensifying differences between the Majlis and Judiciary.
The Judiciary accused Niyazi of cooperating with Abbas Palizdar, a former researcher of the Majlis Investigation and Research Committee, who last month accused the Judiciary of negligence in carrying out investigations into allegations of financial corruption against a number of Iran’s senior officials. The Judiciary also said that Niyazi and his office manager, Mohsen Qa’emi-Nasab, provided Palizdar classified government documents. Palizdar, now in jail on charges of libel, says the documents prove the veracity of his charge against the Judiciary.
The Palizdar investigation has caused three members of the Majlis to be summoned for questioning by the Judiciary. Eleven others are being investigated in connection with the case.
Source: IRNA, Tabnak News
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(Original article written in Persian.)