Tehran, Iran, July 4
By Mehdi Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov – Trend:
A council in Iran is to set a ceiling for salaries of government officials in the coming days, Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry Mohammad Reza Fayyaz said.
He made the remarks during a press conference at Ministry of Industry in Tehran July 4, which was held following concerns over government officials’ salaries in the wake of recent scandal, Trend correspondent reported from the event.
Several top Iranian officials, including head of the National Development Fund, have resigned so far after it was revealed that some officials were receiving inflated salaries.
Over the past two months, President Hassan Rouhani’s government has been harshly criticized as the payslips of several high-ranking government employees were leaked online, revealing that they were receiving unusually high salaries or bonuses. Head of Central Insurance Company of Iran Mohammad Ebrahim Amin was the first government official to resign over the scandal in May.
Commenting on the issue, Fayyaz said there are no “fairytale salaries” in the Industry Ministry.
Industry Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh recently ordered an investigation into the salaries of the ministry’s officials and to legally pursue those with inflated salaries, but there were no such cases, he added.
He also said the Industry Ministry is taking action against the officials who, besides their positions in the ministry, are members to boards of directors in Iranian companies.
Fayyaz said the Industry Ministry is taking care that no one in the ministry holds more than one position simultaneously.
“If we are asked to, we will also investigate the salaries that were paid during the previous government,” added Fayyaz.
