Iranian oil minister steps down

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh has stepped down and will be replaced by the head of Iran's national oil company, the government announced yesterday.

A decree by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quoted by the ISNA agency said Vaziri Hamaneh had been appointed a special advisor to the president in oil and gas affairs.

His replacement as oil minister of OPEC's number two producer will be Gholam Hossein Nozari, head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), according to the decree.