ISTANBUL (AA) – Iran’s parliament on Sunday voted to sack Economy Minister Masoud Karbasian over deteriorating economic conditions in the country.
Karbasian is the second minister to be ousted by parliament after Labor Minister Ali Rabiei, who was removed from his post by lawmakers earlier this month.
Some 137 MPs voted in favor of sacking the minister, against 121 votes against with two abstentions, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Iran has been suffering a rapid decline in economic indicators amid popular protests against rising unemployment and declining living conditions.
Earlier this month, the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iran, which primarily target the country’s banking sector.
The sanctions are intended to hinder Tehran's acquisition of U.S. currency; its precious metals trade; bank transactions denominated in Iranian currency; activities related to Iran's sovereign debt; and the country’s automotive sector.
The sanctions comes after the U.S. withdrawal in May from a nuclear deal agreement with the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) since 2015.
