Iranian Parliament Approves New Presidential Cabinet, Including Second-Ever Female Minister
The country’s 290-member parliament approved all 19 ministerial candidates proposed by Iran’s newly elected president on Wednesday, according to state-run media, demonstrating the strength of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian’s political mandate.
Following former President Ibrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash earlier this year, Pezeshkian emerged as a dark-horse candidate in the subsequent snap election to replace him, eventually defeating ultraconservative hardliner Saeed Jalili in a July 5 runoff vote.
Campaigning on a moderate platform, Pezeshkian capitalized on widespread domestic frustrations, and his cabinet, which includes both hardliners and reformists, reflected his stated goal of unifying the country in the face of poor economic conditions at home and escalating regional tensions.
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Notably, the 69-year-old surgeon turned president signaled an interest in moderating the country’s headscarf laws and reopening nuclear negotiations with the West.
Farzaneh Sadeq, the Islamic Republic’s second-ever female cabinet minister, is one of the nominees for the cabinet. She will serve as the minister of roads and transportation.
The country approved Abbas Araqchi as its new foreign minister. He will replace hardliner Hossein Amirabdollahian, a vocal advocate of the Tehran-led “Axis of Resistance,” a network of armed groups that includes Iranian proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Amirabdollahian died in the same helicopter crash that killed former President Raisi.
Conservative legislators grilled Araqhi about his role in the controversial agreement, but he allayed their concerns by highlighting his time in Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, earning him 247 votes.
