Iran has fired the head of an oil company because he was discovered to have dual nationality - a sensitive issue after a top bank manager fled to Canada during a huge fraud scandal, the Vatan-e Emrouz daily reported on Wednesday. "A managing director of an oil company has been sacked due to his dual citizenship over the last few days," Vatan-e Emrouz reported without identifying the company or second nationality of the man involved.
Iran's oil industry is controlled by the state sector so most managers are state officials. The Islamic Republic does not officially recognise dual citizenship, and so people with dual nationalities are formally barred from applying for government jobs. Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of Iran's biggest bank, state-owned Bank Melli, has yet to return from Canada, where he fled in September, despite calls to do so from the judiciary which is investigating a $2.6 billion fraud.
Iranian media have criticised the fact that Khavari held dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship. Vatan-e Emrouz said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi to find out which managers of state-owned organisations hold dual nationality.