Iran’s new president gives cabinet list to parliament for review

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian presented the names of the proposed cabinet members to the parliament in Tehran on Sunday, two weeks after his inauguration. The proposed cabinet would include a woman for the second time since the revolution some 45 years ago.

Iranian state media IRNA reported on Sunday that Pezeshkian submitted 19 names to the legislature.

The parliament is set to start vetting the list of candidates for four days beginning on Saturday. The MPs also will vote on ministerial positions for the new government.

A vote of confidence is to be performed for each minister individually - rather than one vote on the entire government.

Pezeshkian won Iran’s run-off presidential vote on July 5, beating the ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili.

The vote was originally scheduled for 2025, but it was brought forward after former president Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May alongside several companions including then Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

In one of his first moves, Pezeshkian nominated Abbas Araghchi for the critical post of foreign minister, a 61-year old diplomat who has led Tehran’s nuclear negotiations since 2013.

Pezeshkian, who ran as a reformist candidate, also proposed 48-year-old Farzaneh Sadegh to lead the roads and urban development ministry. If confirmed, Sadegh would be the second woman to hold a ministerial position since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Pezeshkian announced in late July that he would “consult and coordinate” with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to present the final list of the ministerial candidates. Khamenei has the final say on all matters in Iran.