Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 13 / Trend, N. Umid, S. Isayev
The charges put forward against Iranian president Hassan Rouhani's Oil Minister candidate Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, have been permanently dismissed by Iran's Supreme Court, Iranian Jomhourieslami newspaper reported.
The case for Zanganeh was opened due to signing of a gas contract between UAE`s Crescent Petroleum Company and Iran.
Under that contract, worth up to $1 billion, Iran agreed to daily export some 500 million cubic feet of natural gas from the Salman gas field to UAE.
Zanganeh was accused of unclearness in signing the 25-year gas contract, when he was Iran's Oil Minister in 2001.
According to the Court's order, the case has been permanently closed due to two reasons: statute of limitation, and for the case not having an actual crime.
Head of Kayhan newspaper Hossein Shariatmadari, appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, earlier accused Bijan Namdar Zanganeh of concluding a "shameful" deal to supply Iran's natural gas for a price 14 times below the current prices set for foreigners.
Zanganeh also has been accused of playing role in 2009 presidential election protests.