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| Iran MPs Approve 15 of Rowhani's 18 Cabinet Picks |
| 2013-08-16 |
| [An Nahar] Iran's parliament approved on Thursday all but three of President Hasan Rowhani's 18 cabinet picks, allowing the government to start work, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said. He said on live television the proposed ministers of education, Mohammad Ali Najafi, of science, research and technology, Jafar Mili-Monfared -- both considered close to reformists -- and Massoud Sontani-far, at sports and youth, were rejected. Among the key nominations approved by the conservative-dominated parliament were Mohammad Javad Zari as foreign minister and Bijan Zanganeh for the oil portfolio. Voting was on a candidate-by-candidate basis and not on the cabinet as a whole. Rowhani now has three months to fill the three posts left vacant. Zanganeh, who is highly respected in the energy industry and on the international scene, already served as oil minister between 1997 and 2005 under reformist president Mohammad Khatami. But he faced heavy criticism during the four days of parliamentary debate on newly-elected Rowhani's nominations, for both his ties to reformists and over alleged corruption in oil contracts. As for the new foreign minister, Zarif, who holds a U.S. doctorate in international law, served as the Islamic republic's ambassador to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... between 2002 and 2007. He also played a leading role in nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers in 2003-2005 at a time when Rowhani led his country's delegation. Rowhani has said the priority of his all-male team of technocrats will be to tackle Iran's economic crisis and its disputed nuclear program in a bid to lift several rounds of punishing Western sanctions. In an address to parliament at the start of the debate on Monday, Rowhani laid stress on Iran's ailing economy and condemned the Western methods to apply pressure. |
| Posted by:Fred |