Iranian Oil Minister Resigns, Bovard Named Acting Chief

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, and President Masoud Pezeshkian has accepted his departure and appointed National Iranian Oil Company chief Hamid Bovard as acting minister, Iranian state media reported Sunday. The leadership change comes as Iran faces pressure on oil exports and government revenue, but the reported timing does not establish that the export squeeze caused Paknejad’s resignation. Mehdi Tabatabaei, a communications deputy in the president’s office, said Paknejad had resigned for personal reasons and that Pezeshkian accepted the resignation after Paknejad insisted. The accounts did not provide an independent explanation of the circumstances. Paknejad had served as oil minister since August 2024. Bovard, who leads the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, will hold the ministry on an acting basis. The reports did not say whether or when the government would name a permanent replacement. Before the resignation was announced, Paknejad was quoted by state media as saying that payments for oil Iran had already sold were still arriving and would continue.