Iran’s new president picked the former head of the country’s natural-gas company as oil minister, at a time when the Islamic Republic is engaged in fraught negotiations with world powers to revive petroleum exports. Javad Owji, who hasn’t previously held a full ministerial post but was once managing director of National Iranian Gas Co., was proposed for the role in a list of cabinet ministers presented to lawmakers by President Ebrahim Raisi. He would replace retiring veteran, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. Owji was more recently the head of Sina Energy Development Co., owned by a state-run charity that’s controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His career has included senior positions at other energy and petrochemicals companies such as Petro Mofid Development Holding, which is also ultimately controlled by Khamenei’s office. Critical […]