Iran Revolutionary Guards Commander Becomes President of OPEC

A senior Iranian revolutionary guards commander targeted by international sanctions has taken over the presidency of OPEC, after he became Iran's oil minister on Wednesday. Rostam Ghasemi, head of the Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base, was one of four ministers nominated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to join his cabinet last week, and approved by Iran's conservative-dominated parliament. Ghasemi is currently subject to US, EU and Australian sanctions, and his assets have been blacklisted by the US Treasury and western powers. He took 216 votes from the 246 deputies in the 290-seat parliament. Iranian state media interpreted the vote as a reaction to international sanctions against the country, especially those which have been targeted by revolutionary guards and the country's nuclear program. "The clever and decisive vote of Iranian MP's for engineer Ghasemi to become the oil minister is a meaningful and crucial response to the attacks against the guards from the west's media empire," said Ramedan Sharif, the head of the revolutionary guards' public relations' unit, in quotes carried by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency. In a parliament debate before the vote, however, Ali Motahari, a prominent conservative MP who has previously threatened to impeach Ahmadinejad, spoke out against the involvement of the revolutionary guards in Iran's politics. "The integration of the guard, as a military force, in political and economic power, is not in the interests of the system," Motahari told the parliament. "In neighboring countries, military officials are distancing themselves from politics and power,while it's the opposite in Iran."