#️⃣ Part Three and Final
The Oil Ministry: The Third Casualty
On October 4, 2026, more than seven months after the start of the war, President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted the resignation of Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and appointed Hamid Bovard, the former chief executive of the National Iranian Oil Company, as acting oil minister.
According to official statements, the resignation was submitted for “personal reasons.” Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani explained that
“the issue of the resignation had been under discussion for some time, and the minister had wanted to resign, but the president initially refused before later accepting it in accordance with legal procedures.”
The Oil Ministry has therefore joined the list of ministries being run by acting officials, bringing the total to three: Defense, Intelligence, and Oil.
All three are key ministries: Defense for managing the war, Intelligence for internal security, and Oil for the economy and energy sector under conditions of blockade and sanctions.
Only Three Months… or an Open-Ended Situation?
Article 135 of the Iranian Constitution stipulates that the president may appoint an acting minister to head a ministry without a permanent minister for a maximum period of three months.
After that deadline, appointing a permanent minister and securing a vote of confidence from Parliament becomes a constitutional requirement.
But with the war continuing, Parliament disrupted, and deep divisions persisting within the ruling establishment, the question remains open:
Will the government be able to appoint permanent ministers to all three ministries within the legal deadlines?
Or will the Oil Ministry follow the same path as the Defense and Intelligence ministries, remaining under an acting minister indefinitely as the legitimacy crisis continues to deepen day by day?