Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday, without stating reasons.

"I thank you and appreciate the work and the services you have rendered during your tenure in the foreign ministry," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in the directive carried by the IRNA.

"I hope your efforts receive praise by God and you will be successful in the rest of your life at the service of people in our Islamic nation," he added.

Mottaki, a career diplomat, was appointed to the post of foreign minister in August 2005. He is currently in Senegal on an official visit.

A fluent speaker of English who is also comfortable in Urdu and Turkish, Mottaki earned a degree in social sciences from the University of Bangalore in India and a graduate degree in international relations from Tehran University in 1991.