TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Administrative Justice Court has ordered that an Iranian vice president be barred from government service for four years.
The conservative news website alef.ir says Vice President for Executive Affairs Hamid Baqaei has been convicted of committing "violations" and banned from serving in the government for four years. The report was posted on the website Saturday.
The website doesn't say when the verdict was issued and doesn't elaborate on the violations but says the ruling is related to "numerous violations" allegedly committed by Baqaei when he headed Iran's cultural heritage and tourism organization.
Hard-liners have dramatically increased pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his loyalists amid a bitter power struggle over who will shape Iran's next government.
