Saeed Mortazavi reportedly returned to his position as head of the Social Security Fund despite Parliament’s resistance to his appointment by the Labour Minister.
Iranian Member of Parliament Ali Motahari said the MPs were wrong to halt the Labour Minister’s impeachment, even as the Fars News Agency reports that Mortazavi, who had reportedly promised to resign from the Social Security Fund, has returned to his position by the order of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Parliament challenged Mortazavi’s initial appointment to the Social Security Fund because the former Tehran Prosecutor is accused in the 2009 case of detainees at the Kahrizak Detention Centre, who were tortured and, in some cases, died.
According to a parliamentary probe, Mortazavi used his authority as the Tehran Prosecutor to order the transfer of prisoners to Kahrizak, which led to at least three deaths.
The impeachment of the Labour Minister for appointing Mortazavi was supposed to happen yesterday, but the signatories to the impeachment motion withdrew their signatures after senior MP Haddad Adel assured them that Mortazavi had promised to resign from his position.
Motahari, a Tehran MP, said today that Mortazavi’s resignation lasted only half a day and that the MPs had been deceived. He added, however, that impeachment is still an available option that should be firmly embraced.
Fars reported that Mortazavi returned to the Social Security Office today, by order of the president, and met with the organization’s deputies.
