TEHRAN, Oct 3 (AFP) - Iran's reformist Transport Minister Ahmad Khorram was hauled before the conservative-held parliament Sunday to defend his record or face impeachment over alleged corruption, carnage on the roads and the awarding of government contracts to foreign companies.
He is the first minister in the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami to face the sack from parliament, which fell into the hands of hardliners in February's elections.
However the conservative speaker of the Majlis, Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel, said the move did not mean deputies were embarking on a purge of the moderate executive.
"Whatever the decision of the Majlis, it does not mean that we do not want to work with this government," he said.
As the impeachment hearing began, one conservative deputy, Ali Ahmadi, complained that in the current Iranian year, which began on March 20, road accidents were already up 24 percent.
"Last year 25,350 people died on the roads, that is 5,600 more than three years ago," he said. "Between the (1979) revolution and three years ago, we had 148 plane accidents with 780 dead. Over the last three years, we have had 86 accidents with 212 killed."
Khorram, who has the support of Khatami, took over the portfolio after fellow reformist Rahman Dadman died in a plane crash four years ago.
Some 116 deputies signed the request for Khorram to be impeached, and along with road and air accidents have also pointed to alleged corruption in his ministry and his handling of Tehran's new but long-overdue airport.
In the impeachment demand, Khorram was accused of "tarnishing the Islamic Republic of Iran's reputation" after he handed a 200-million dollar contract to Turkish-led consortium Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV).
Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport was shut down in May by the hardline Revolutionary Guards, who said the contract was a threat to national security because the operators were foreign and also had business dealings with arch-enemy Israel.
According to the deputies who signed the impeachment demand, Khorram had shown an "unnecessary inclination towards foreign companies."
Deputies voted last week to give themselves a veto power over the contract.
Another deputy, Mohammad Reza Mir Tajedini, also blasted what he said was a "waste of public funds", noting the inauguration ceremony for the airport in February had cost 18 billion rials (205,000 dollars).
And female MP Fatemeh Adjorlou said a high turnover of management at the transport ministry had led to "a rise in accidents, including that of Neishabour".
In February, close to 300 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured when rail wagons loaded with an explosive cocktail of fuel, fertiliser and industrial chemicals rolled away from a station and crashed in Neishabour in the northeast of Iran.
Khorram apologised after the disaster, but brushed off calls for him to resign. He has also vowed to fight attempts to impeach him, saying he will treat the hearing as an "opportunity" to spell out what he insists is a successful if difficult tenure.