Iranian lawmakers on Sunday gave a vote of confidence to Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi who had been impeached mainly over a tragic train crash that killed dozens of people in November 2016.
Speaking in the parliament on Sunday, Akhoundi responded to the questions of parliamentarians and defended his performance.
At the conclusion of the open session, chaired by Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Akhoundi managed to retain his position by winning 176 out of 255 votes, Tasnim News Agency reported.
This was the second time over the past year and a half that Akhoundi survived an impeachment.
The main reason behind his impeachment was what lawmakers called weak performance that led to the tragic train crash that killed 45 passengers and wounded dozens of others.
A passenger train travelling between Tehran and the northeastern holy city of Mashhad had stopped in a mountainous area near Haft-Khan station, on the railroad linking the cities of Semnan and Damghan, when another train hit it from behind, setting a number of cars ablaze.
