SHANA - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh appointed Jafar Towfighi Darian as the new head of the Research Center of Petroleum Industry (RIPI).

Mr. Darian replaced Mohammad Reza Katouzian as RIPI chief.

Born on 19 March 1956, Dr. Darian is a chemical engineer, academic, politician and senior consultant of Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and served as minister of science, research and technology for two terms.

As a globally renowned oil industry research center, RIPI is the research arm of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum.