Iran dismisses deputy oil minister

TEHRAN, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Iran removed Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh from office Tuesday without naming a specific cause, sources said.

Nematzadeh, one of about a dozen top oil officials removed from their posts in the past three years, had been in charge of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co. As such, he was responsible for overseeing the country's gasoline rationing, the Financial Times reported.

Analysts, however, saw the dismissal as a move by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to consolidate his power base, the Times reported.

"The change is part of a general policy of Mr. Ahmadinejad to hire new and young faces to prevent the widening gap between old and young managers," said Kamal Daneshyar, former leader of Iran's parliamentary energy committee.