Iran oil minister resigns amid economic pressures from Iran-US war

Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has stepped down from his position, according to state media reports on Sunday. The announcement did not specify a reason for his resignation. Hamid Bovard, the CEO of the government-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has been appointed as the acting oil minister following the resignation.

Paknejad had served as Iran’s oil minister since August 2024, a tenure marked by economic pressures stemming from the ongoing seven-month war between Iran and the US. Before his resignation, Paknejad was quoted by state media reassuring that oil revenues were still being received and would continue, saying, “revenues of the oil that we have sold are still coming and that will continue God willing.”

The resignation was accepted by President Pezeshkian, who confirmed Bovard’s appointment as acting minister through an official at the president’s office.