Ali Kordan

[9][10] However, during his confirmation debate in the parliament, questions arose among MPs and in the media over his qualifications and over a doctorate he claimed to have received.

[3] The document stated Kordan "has shown a great effort in preparing educational materials and his research in the domain of comparative law, that has opened a new chapter, not only in our university, but, to our knowledge, in this country".

[13][14] Responding to an inquiry by Alef news agency, on 11 August 2008, Oxford University denied it had awarded Kordan an honorary doctorate of law or any other degree.

[13] Two days after the Oxford University response, IRNA reported that the Tehran prosecutor's office announced that investigating Alef news website had been "banned based on complaints by legal entities".

[16] On 27 September 2008, in a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kordan admitted that the degree was fake, explaining that he had been deceived by a "person who claimed to represent Oxford University in Tehran".

Kordan said his search for this fraudulent Oxford intermediary had proven fruitless but that he had filed a complaint against the person, whom he did not name, on 14 September.

[3] On 4 November 2008, the Iranian parliament voted to impeach interior minister Ali Kordan for lying about his credentials and presenting a fake degree from Oxford University.