Iran's oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned after roughly two years in the position, with President Masoud Pezeshkian accepting his resignation. Hamid Bovard, head of the National Iranian Oil Company, is set to serve as acting oil minister.
The resignation comes amid intense pressure on Iran's oil sector — and its timing raised eyebrows. Just hours before stepping down, state media quoted Paknejad saying oil revenues were still coming in and would continue. Then he was gone.
The shake-up lands as the Trump administration's economic strangulation of Tehran tightens. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has separately warned that Iran could soon have "no oil on the water," putting Tehran's oil exports and revenue — the lifeline of the regime — under mounting pressure.
When the man in charge of the money walks out the door days after insisting everything is fine, it usually means everything is not fine. Maximum pressure is doing exactly what it was designed to do.