All Ministerial Picks Win Iran Parliament’s Confidence Vote
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The final round of the Iranian Parliament’s sessions to vet President Masoud Pezeshkian’s proposed ministers ended on Wednesday as all the nominees managed to win the vote of confidence from the lawmakers.
Following several days of intensive parliamentary sessions held to discuss the credentials and backgrounds of the proposed ministers, the MPs held a ballot on Wednesday and voted for all the ministerial nominees.
The lawmakers have ratified Abdolnaser Hemmati as the minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Esmaeil Khatib as the minister of Intelligence, Abbas Araqchi as the minister of Foreign Affairs, Sattar Hashemi as the minister of Communication and Information Technology, Alireza Kazemi as the minister of Education, Mohammad Reza Zafarqandi as the minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, Ahmad Maydari as the minister of Labor, Cooperatives, and Welfare, Gholamreza Nouri Qezelje as the minister of Agriculture, Aziz Nasirzadeh as the minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, Amir Hossein Rahimi as the minister of Justice, Farzaneh Sadeq as the minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mohammad Atabak as the minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, Abbas Salehi as the minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Eskandar Mo’meni as the Interior Minister, Mohsen Paknejad as the Oil Minister, Abbas Aliabadi as the minister of Energy, Ahmad Donyamali as the minister of Sports and Youth, Hossein Simayi Sarraf as the minister of Sciences, Research, and Technology, and Reza Salehi Amiri as the minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism.
Less than two weeks after being sworn in as the new president of Iran, Pezeshkian submitted the list of his proposed ministerial picks to the Parliament on August 11.
In comments on Monday, the president said none of his picks has been chosen without consultations with the high-level authorities of the country.
He said his incoming administration has honored the pledge of “national consensus” and now expects the lawmakers to demonstrate their commitment in practice by giving a vote of confidence to his cabinet.
After the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, Pezeshkian became one of six final candidates singled out by the Constitutional Council from 80 applicants seeking the presidency.
He won the highest number of votes in the first round of the presidential election on June 28 and faced off the runner-up, Saeed Jalili, in the runoff election on July 5.
The physician-turned-politician won the runoff by garnering 53.66% of the votes.
His new administration, the 14th after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, holds office for four years.