Iran gets new foreign minister

TEHRAN, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was appointed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the next foreign minister, the government said.

Ahmadinejad issued a presidential order dismissing Manouchehr Mottaki from the position of foreign minister while Mottaki was on an official trip to Senegal in December.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly tried to block Ahmadinejad from firing Mottaki, though he had long been on the president's list of potential replacements.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, was named by Ahmadinejad as acting foreign minister following the announcement.

The Iranian president official appointed Salehi, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as the country's next foreign minister in a Tuesday ceremony, the Islamic Student News Association reports.

"Based on articles 87th and 133rd of Islamic Republic of Iran's constitution and considering the confidence vote on January 30, you (Salehi) are installed as foreign minister," the president was quoted as saying.

Salehi was backed by 146 of the 241 members of the Iranian Parliament in late January. Tehran said it would look for another candidate to take his spot on at the head of the nuclear agency.