The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tehran

Iran's parliament on Tuesday began a process to impeach Interior Minister Ali Kordan for "dishonesty" after he confessed to holding a fake Oxford University degree.

The row has caused major embarrassment to the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has defended Kordan throughout the controversy and who refused to appear in parliament for the impeachment session. "A person who has to be entrusted with the country's security has mocked parliament's trust," MP Ebrahim Nekunam said in a speech carried live on state radio. "The sensitive position of interior minister requires that Mr Kordan serve in another post. What is important today is the reputation of the Islamic republic system," added another lawmaker, Ali Asghar Dastgheib.

Kordan had been under pressure to quit the cabinet post he took up in August after the prestigious British university denied awarding him any qualification through a representative, as he had claimed.