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Iran names new envoy to Germany |
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Tuesday, 18 April 2006 |
Iran Focus
 London, Apr. 18 – Mohammad Mahdi Akhoundzadeh will be appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Germany, the state-run news agency Mehr reported.
Akhoundzadeh was Iran’s envoy to the United Nations office in Vienna, Austria.
Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali-Asghar Soltanieh would instead take over Akhoundzadeh’s former post in Vienna alongside his current post.
Separately, the state-owned daily Iran reported on Monday that Iran was planning to sack some 60 of its ambassadors during the year.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi was quoted as saying that the changes were “normal procedure”.
Among the envoys being replaced are Iran ambassadors to Britain, France, and Germany.
Earlier this month, Iran Focus reported that a number of officials appointed by the government of hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the posts of Iran’s ambassadors to European countries had been rejected by the host countries.
As part of a purge of the Islamic Republic’s diplomats who did not belong to the ultra-Islamist faction, in October Ahmadinejad ordered the recalling of 40 of the country’s ambassadors and envoys, nearly half of the fleet. These included Iranian ambassadors in European countries, who were involved in Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with the West.
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