Minister of Industry Ali Akbar MehrabianJust when you thought Ahmadinejad's cabinet nightmare could not get worse, his Minister of Industry Ali Akbar Mehrabian has been found guilty of fraud.
The conviction deals with Mehrabian and an associate falsely claiming to have come up with the idea for an "earthquake saferoom" in a 2005 book. The court did not dole out any punishment, but did order Mehrabian and his associate have their name removed from the registration for the design.
While this might not seem like a big deal, Ahmadinejad probably wanted to reappoint Mehrabian to another term as his Minister of Industry. Mehrabian is a close associate of Ahmadinejad and this ruling gives ammunition to hardliners who want to remove allies of Ahmadinejad from the cabinet. In order to serve another term as Minister of Industry, Mehrabian would need a fresh vote of confidence from parliament and this ruling could be used to deny him another term. According to the AP, "Mohsen Koohkan, a prominent hard-line lawmaker, said Monday that parliament will consider Mehrabian's conviction if Ahmadinejad tried to keep him in his post in the next government".
I guess we just have to wait and see what the next crazy development comes out of Ahmadinejad's cabinet.
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