In a fresh blow to the embattled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's constitutional watchdog body has ruled that the president can't serve as the country's caretaker oil minister. The Guardian Council decided it is illegal for Ahmadinejad to occupy the position of the caretaker oil minister, AP reports citing the semiofficial Fars news agency.

Ahmadinejad dismissed oil minister Masoud Mirkazemi last week as part of a Cabinet restructuring in which the government must merge eight ministries into four.

In a report published Friday, May 20, Fars said the president must name a caretaker oil minister, not himself.

The ruling comes after a senior Iranian official said Ahmadinejad will participate in the upcoming OPEC meeting in Vienna in his capacity as the country's caretaker oil minister.