Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Hamid Bovard has not stepped down from his post as head of the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on August 11, two weeks after speculation swirled over his possible departure.

Mehr said Bovard was at work on August 10 and “no resignation had taken place”, countering earlier reports from second-tier domestic outlets that the close aide to Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad was set to lose his job following a “dismissal order” from Iran’s Supreme Audit Court.

They claimed that a member of NIOC’s board of directors would replace him.

The local news site Avayejonoob said the court issued the order after Bovard allegedly refused to provide information about oil and gas trade deals.

It added that Bovard had committed “no wrongdoing” and that, under a directive from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, such documents were “confidential and must not be handed over to another body” due to US sanctions on the country’s exports.

Another site, Peykehafte, dismissed the rumours as “media hype” driven by rivals “seeking to bring about his downfall.”

Bovard, who has served in the post since late August last year, was blacklisted by the US Treasury in February for allegedly facilitating Iranian crude oil sales and transfers.

Over the past fortnight, he has kept a low profile in domestic media, with the last report about him on the Oil Ministry’s Shana news service dating back 15 days.

The Irnaft news site claimed he could be removed over awarding oil projects to companies linked to relatives, though the state-owned NIOC has strongly denied this.

Any removal of the veteran technocrat, amid mounting US pressure and tightening sanctions on Iranian oil sales, could weigh on the country’s ability to sustain crude exports.