Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad abruptly fired his foreign minister on December 13 as he was in the middle of an official visit to Africa and named the nuclear chief as the acting top diplomat.

The president thanked Manouchehr Mottaki for his more than five years of service - spanning Ahmadinejad's entire time in office - but gave no explanation for the change in a brief statement on his website. He named nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also one of the country's 12 vice presidents, to serve as caretaker foreign minister, The Washington Post reported.