The impeachment session is being held in the presence of 217 out of 290 MPs and is presided by Speaker Ali Larijani.
The impeachment proceeding against Faraji-Dana was announced at a Majlis open session on August 12 with 51 signatories.
Critics of Faraji-Dana mainly accuse him of politicizing the academic environment and criticize the minister for appointing some political figures as his advisors and deputies.
They also claim the way he is running the Ministry is against national interests causing a decline in the countryˈs scientific progress.
Meanwhile, supporters of Faraji-Dana believed that his impeachment is ˈa hasty politically motivated act.ˈ
First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Oil Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi and Governor of Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif are attending the impeachment session.
A large number of journalists, photographers and cameramen are covering the event.
Born in 1960 in the holy city of Qom, Faraji-Dana is a politician who served as chancellor of University of Tehran and former president of Iranian branch of the New York based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
He studied electrical engineering at the University of Tehran, and at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He graduated with a Ph.D. degree from University of Waterloo in 1993. He is currently a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Tehran.
On October 27, 2013, Majlis gave vote of confidence to Faraji-Dana after the lawmakers refused to approve the qualifications of Rouhani’s initial nominee for the position, Jafar Nili-Monfared.
According to Iranˈs constitution, the impeachment motion should have at least ten signatures before it can be delivered to the parliamentˈs presiding board. The minister must appear in parliament to answer MPsˈ questions within 10 days after the receipt of the motion, and then the impeachment motion will be put to vote.
At the beginning of the impeachment session MPs will address the Majlis for two hours in support or against Faraji-Dana.
The impeachment proceeding will then continue by Faraji-Danaˈs address to the MPs who should later vote for or against him.
The impeached minister will have three hours to defend himself.
Over 50 articles written by Faraji-Dana were published in leading foreign magazines and he has garnered one national and one international awards for his achievements in the field of telecommunications.
