Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a debate on his proposed ministers in an open session of parliament in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. Iran’s hardline parliament approved all members of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Cabinet on Wednesday, the first time in two decades a leader has succeeded in getting all his officials passed by the Cabinet. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) | Photo credit: Vahid Salemi
Iran’s hardline parliament approved all members of the reformist group on Wednesday (August 21). President Masoud PezeshkianThis is the first time in more than two decades that a leader has succeeded in getting all his officials included in the Cabinet.
The approval is an early victory for Mr Pezeshkian, a long-time lawmaker who had tipped himself to the presidency. His hardline predecessor died in a helicopter crash in May,
The approval of his officials shows that Mr. Pezeshkian has unanimously selected a Cabinet with names acceptable to all power centers of Iran’s theocracy, while also avoiding controversial choices.
Underscoring this point, Mr. Pezeshkian promptly posted a photo online of himself standing alongside Iran’s judiciary chief, a Shiite cleric, and the country’s parliament speaker, a hardline figure he once faced in an election.
“Consensus for Iran,” he wrote in the caption.
Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who campaigned for Pezeshkian during his election, later resigned as vice president for the new leader over cabinet selections.
Mr Pezeshkian’s new Cabinet also includes Abbas Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat who will be Iran’s new Foreign Minister.
Mr Araghchi was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that struck a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that curbed Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.
The candidate with the most support from lawmakers was the country’s new defense minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, who received 281 votes out of 288 incumbent lawmakers. The chamber has 290 seats.
Mr. Nasirzadeh was the chief of the Iranian Air Force from 2018 to 2021.
Health Minister Mohammad Reza Jafarghandi got the least number of votes, 163.
Housing and Roads Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, a 47-year-old architect, received 231 votes. She is Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.
Parliament also approved Pezeshkian’s proposed Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, both of whom served under late President Ebrahim Raisi. Pezeshkian also appointed Raisi’s Industry Minister Abbas Alibadi as Energy Minister.
Removing proposed ministers has been a tradition in Iran’s parliament, making Pezeshkian’s success all the more remarkable. Former reformist President Mohammad Khatami was the only president to receive a vote of confidence for all his proposed ministers in 1997 and 2001.