ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran's parliament on Sunday sacked the country's Finance Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati after initiating impeachment proceedings over his handling of high inflation and a sharp depreciation of the national currency – the rial.

 

Hemmati lost a vote of confidence in Iran’s parliament, where 182 out of 273 lawmakers voted to remove him from his post over the mismanagement of the country’s finances and inability to weather the financial woes that have crippled the country, according to the Iranian state TV.

 

Economic hardship is the most burning issue as Tehran suffers under punishing international sanctions, rapid inflation, high consumer prices, and a falling currency.

 

The Iranian rial on the black market on Sunday was trading for over 920,000 to the US dollar, compared to less than 600,000 in the middle of 2024.

 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the parliament session to defend Hemmati.

 

 “The economic problems of today's society are not related to one person and we cannot blame it all on one person,” Pezeshkian said.

 

Hemmati was a former governor of Iran’s central bank.

 

Pezeshkian took office in July, aiming to revive the economy and end some Western-imposed sanctions.

 

The Iranian president also said that Tehran was in a “ full-scale [economic] war with the enemy,” referring to the United States before the no-confidence vote took place. “We must take a war formation".

 

The US imposed a second round of sanctions last week on grounds that Tehran was “too close” to obtaining nuclear weapons. 

 

 

In 2015, world powers agreed to ease international sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program, a deal that came to be known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

 

The United States under Trump’s first-term administration, unilaterally withdrew from the landmark deal three years later, reimposing economic sanctions on Tehran, causing massive financial damage to the country’s economy.