From the Persian Gulf to Ahdaaf Holding, How Did Abbaszadeh Remain Without a Seat Amid the Power Struggle of Oil Holdings?

The story of Hassan Abbaszadeh in the past two months has gone beyond a normal managerial change in the petrochemical industry and has become a clear example of the complexities of power relations in Iran's major economic holdings; a structure where the board's vote, shareholders' opinion, the Minister of Oil's decision, and even the completion of capital market formalities are not necessarily sufficient for a manager to sit in the CEO's chair.

Feydus News' review shows that Hassan Abbaszadeh was initially selected to manage the largest petrochemical holding in Iran, stepped down from the National Petrochemical Company, but ultimately could not take over the management of the Persian Gulf Holding. Now his name is mentioned as one of the potential candidates for managing the Ahdaaf Investment Group, while Mehdi Abouri has officially been the CEO of this collection at least until recent days.

The Choice Was Made But Not Implemented

The story began in June. On 24 June 1405, the Oil Industry Pension Funds introduced Hassan Abbaszadeh as their representative on the board of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company. Oil industry media considered this change as a prelude to the removal of Mohammad Shariatmadari and the transfer of the holding's management to Abbaszadeh. 

On the second of Tir, the board of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Holding also selected Abbaszadeh as the CEO. The news of this decision was published in various media and even sources affiliated with the oil industry, and Abbaszadeh was officially introduced as Shariatmadari's successor.

The Ministry of Oil also considered this selection serious and final. On the eighth of Tir, a farewell ceremony for Hassan Abbaszadeh from the National Petrochemical Company was held, and Omid Shakari, while maintaining his position, took over the interim management of NPC . Mohsen Paknejad, the Minister of Oil, praised Abbaszadeh's performance at the same ceremony and spoke about his success in the "new responsibility".

Abbaszadeh was not removed from the National Petrochemical Company due to retirement; rather, the Ministry of Oil practically sent him off for transfer to the Persian Gulf Holding. However, the transfer was never completed in the usual manner.

The Presidential Office's Intervention in the Case

From the very first days, the public relations of the Persian Gulf Holding and media close to Mohammad Shariatmadari's management offered a different narrative. The main axis of the dispute was the legal validity of changing shareholder representatives, Shariatmadari's retirement status, and the legal formalities of changing the board and CEO. In contrast, media like "Energy News," "Oil Online," and several specialized oil industry channels considered Abbaszadeh's appointment legal and emphasized the end of Shariatmadari's term. This contradiction led to two completely different narratives emerging from the head of Iran's largest petrochemical holding over a few weeks.

The decisive point, however, was the intervention of the Presidential Office. On 27 August, simultaneously with the professional qualification approval of Abbaszadeh by the Securities and Exchange Organization, Mohammad Shariatmadari announced in a letter to the head of the Securities and Exchange Organization that the President's Office had ordered a halt to the managerial changes in the Persian Gulf Holding. Multiple sources also reported this issue.

 This intervention effectively stabilized the current situation, and Shariatmadari remained in the management of the holding. As a result, Abbaszadeh found himself in an unprecedented position: he had handed over his previous position at the National Petrochemical Company, but the new seat that the Ministry of Oil and the holding's board had envisioned for him was not granted to him.

Why Is the Persian Gulf Seat So Important?

The answer lies in the economic dimensions of the holding. The Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company is the largest specialized petrochemical holding in Iran and controls dozens of production companies, projects, engineering firms, trading, and investment companies. The financial reports published for the recent fiscal year speak of a net profit of about 187 trillion tomans. In recent years, this collection has also held about 40 percent of the production capacity of the petrochemical industry and a large share of the country's petrochemical exports.

Therefore, the CEO of this holding is not merely the manager of a petrochemical company. He influences a vast network of companies, multi-billion-dollar projects, engineering and contracting contracts, equipment purchases, exports, investments, advertising, and social responsibilities. The sheer volume of financial resources has made management changes in "Fars" almost always extend beyond a specialized appointment, with various political and economic groups being sensitive to it.

In this situation, "direct support from Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani for Shariatmadari's retention" was confirmed, a matter resulting from Shariatmadari's long-standing background in the Khatami and Hassan Rouhani governments and the practical support of Masoud Pezeshkian's government for his continued presence in the Persian Gulf Holding. Shariatmadari was the Minister of Commerce in Khatami's government and a minister and executive deputy in Hassan Rouhani's government.

Abbaszadeh in Haste; A Technocrat Manager Amid a Political Game

Unlike Shariatmadari, Hassan Abbaszadeh is more a product of the power structure and political exchanges within the oil and petrochemical industry than a political figure.

 His published records include planning and development management at the National Petrochemical Company, deputy for planning and development, head of integration and evaluation of production programs, energy planning, board membership at Jam Petrochemical, and responsibilities at Amir Kabir Petrochemical.

 In other words, Abbaszadeh's professional path has mostly passed through NPC and the technocratic structure of the petrochemical industry, and proximity to the political managers of this collection.

This background is considered an advantage for managing petrochemical industry policy, but managing a collection like the Persian Gulf is not just about understanding production, feedstock, or development planning. The CEO of this holding must simultaneously manage the relations of several major shareholders, pension funds, the government, the Ministry of Oil, the capital market, subsidiary companies, contractors, and powerful political players. The events of the past two months showed that having the support of the Ministry of Oil and even the board's vote is not necessarily enough to navigate this power network.

Is It Now Ahdaaf's Turn?

After the failed transfer of Abbaszadeh to the Persian Gulf, his name has been mentioned in connection with the Ahdaaf Investment Group in recent weeks. A report published on the fifth of Shahrivar mentioned the end of the term of the legal members of the Ahdaaf board and began speculations about the continuation of Mehdi Abouri's management. In the same report, Hassan Abbaszadeh was introduced as one of the potential candidates, but it was explicitly emphasized that no official decision regarding his appointment has been made.

In contrast, very recent official evidence shows that Abouri is still active in his position. On 26 August, Ahdaaf's public relations published a report from the Deputy Council meeting in which Mehdi Abouri was explicitly introduced as the "CEO of the Ahdaaf Investment Group." Ahdaaf's official LinkedIn account has also recently published news related to the initial public offering of Taban Petrochemical Company with the title of CEO for Abouri.

Ahdaaf; It's Not Just Another Holding. The Ahdaaf Investment Group is not a marginal entity in the oil industry equations. This company is an important investment arm related to the Oil Industry Pension Funds and is present in the oil, gas, petrochemical, refining, equipment, and infrastructure project sectors.

Interestingly, Ahdaaf itself is one of the main players in the ownership case of the Persian Gulf Holding shares. A 12 percent block of Persian Gulf Holding shares was transferred to Ahdaaf in 1401 in a major competition; a transaction that was described at the time as "the largest privatization deal in Iran's history," and its legal disputes continue. This connection doubles the importance of managing Ahdaaf. The manager who heads Ahdaaf not only has managerial control over a collection of oil and petrochemical companies but is also connected to one of the most important ownership blocks of the Persian Gulf Holding with the interests of the Oil Industry Pension Fund.

 For this reason, the potential transfer of Abbaszadeh from the failed Persian Gulf management project to Ahdaaf management, if it occurs, cannot merely be considered an administrative shift.

Abouri; A Manager Who Hasn't Been Removed Yet

Regarding Mehdi Abouri, multiple political narratives have been published on social networks. Some media introduce him as close to political currents, including Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

During his management of Ahdaaf, Abouri has employed a wide network of managers with diverse backgrounds in subsidiary companies and has been actively involved in decision-making for projects like the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Kangan Petrorefinery, Dehloran Petrochemical, and oil equipment companies.

Interestingly, there was also a public disagreement between Abouri and Abbaszadeh during Abbaszadeh's management of NPC over some projects. In a meeting related to Dehloran Petrochemical, Abouri directly addressed Abbaszadeh regarding feedstock supply and the issuance of licenses for new petrochemical projects, demanding a guarantee for long-term feedstock supply. These remarks were reflected in the media and oil industry channels. From this perspective, the potential replacement of Abbaszadeh for Abouri, if indeed on the agenda, would not be just a simple CEO change.

Who Is the Current Loser in This Dispute?

 In the current situation, perhaps the strangest position belongs to Hassan Abbaszadeh. The Ministry of Oil removed him from one of the most important governing positions in the petrochemical industry, the Minister of Oil spoke of his "new responsibility" at an official ceremony, the board of the largest petrochemical holding in the country selected him, and even his professional qualification was raised and approved by the Securities and Exchange Organization; but ultimately, political power higher than the structure of the Ministry of Oil halted the management change process.

 He is now neither the CEO of NPC nor the CEO of the Persian Gulf Holding. The mention of Abbaszadeh's name for Ahdaaf can be seen in such a context: an attempt to find a managerial seat commensurate with the position that the Ministry of Oil had previously envisioned for him.

However, Ahdaaf is not a collection whose CEO can be changed solely by the decision of a manager or even a ministry. The weight of assets, its direct relationship with oil pension funds, shareholding in large companies, and the multitude of influential players make its management change, like that of the Persian Gulf, require some form of agreement among several power centers.

The story of the past two months of Hassan Abbaszadeh may be more about the distribution of power in Iran's quasi-governmental economy than about the ability or inability of a petrochemical industry manager; a place where sometimes a holding's CEO is chosen on paper, a successor is appointed in the previous position, and a farewell ceremony is held, but it is still unclear who will ultimately be handed the key to the CEO's office.