Mortazavi may quit his post, Iranian MP says

TEHRAN, April 9 (MNA) – Saeed Mortazavi may resign his post as the new director of the Social Security Organization to ward off impeachment move against the labor minister, MP Elyas Naderan said on Sunday. “I am not a fortuneteller and cannot predict (the future), but there are reports in this regard that there is such likelihood,” said Naderan when asked about that possibility that Mortazavi will resign. Some MPs have submitted an impeachment motion to the Majlis presiding board to remove Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare Minister Abdolreza Sheikholeslami for appointing Mortazavi to the new post. Mortazi was named the Social Security Organization director in mid-March, just a few days before the beginning of the new Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20. Mortazavi is liable to court proceedings over the Kahrizak detention case which caused uproar in the society in follow-up to the 2009 presidential election. Naderan, the architect of the impeachment move against the labor minister, argued that the minister will not survive impeachment if a voting is held in the parliament. On a request to hold a joint meeting between MPs who were the initiators of the impeachment motion, Sheikholeslami, and Mortazavi, he said that there will be no problem in this regard if the minister attends the meeting with “full authority”. He added, “We will wait until the government announces the date for such a meeting because it requested a meeting.” Naderan also stated that the Majlis presiding board has set next Sunday as the date for the impeachment session.