Iran lawmakers approve new president's cabinet

Iran's conservative-dominated parliament on Wednesday approved reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian's proposed cabinet, which includes one woman and a foreign minister open to dialogue with the West.

Lawmakers voted in favour of all 19 ministers chosen by Pezeshkian -- who was inaugurated in July after his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash -- during a session broadcast on state television.

In a speech in parliament ahead of the vote, Pezeshkian said he initially "had ideal (candidates) on my mind".

"But when I saw that there was no mutual agreement on them, I backed down," said Pezeshkian, who later held his first sessions with the newly approved cabinet.

"Because agreement was more important to me than ideal (candidates)," he added, vowing "to move forward with unity".

Wednesday's vote was the first time in 23 years that Iran's parliament granted confidence to all ministers proposed by a president since the term of reformist Mohammad Khatami, according to the reformist daily Etemad.

Following the vote, Pezeshkian posted a photo of himself on social media platform X alongside Iran's conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, with a caption reading "consensus for Iran".

"The parliament will be with the government on the way to solving the problems of the country," Ghalibaf wrote on social media platform X after the vote.

The new cabinet includes Abbas Araghchi, a 61-year-old career diplomat, as Iran's new foreign minister, replacing Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who died along with Raisi in May.

Araghchi, known for openness towards the West, has recently vowed "all-round support for the axis of resistance and Palestine" during a speech in parliament, referencing pro-Tehran armed groups opposed to Israel, including Palestinian Hamas militants, Iraqi movements and Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The veteran diplomat, who led the Iran nuclear talks in 2013, played a role in sealing a landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western countries.

But the deal, designed to regulate Iran's atomic activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, collapsed in 2018 after unilateral US withdrawal.

Wednesday's vote also approved the only woman in the cabinet, Farzaneh Sadegh, the second woman to hold a ministerial post since the Islamic Republic's establishment in 1979.

Sadegh, 47, will head the ministry of roads and urban development.

General Aziz Nasirzadeh, a former commander of the Iranian air force and deputy chief of staff of the armed forces since 2021, was confirmed as defense minister.

Nasirzadeh gained 281 out of 288 votes in the 290-seat parliament -- the highest number yet for a minister, according to the IRNA state news agency.

Pezeshkian's proposed cabinet drew criticism from some among Iran's reformist camp, including over the inclusion of conservatives from Raisi's government.

Others criticized the line-up for the absence of ethnic and religious minorities and for not including more women.

Pezeshkian's pick for minister of intelligence, Esmail Khatib, who led the same ministry under Raisi, was also among those approved by parliament.

Raisi's minister of industries, Abbas Aliabadi, becomes energy minister.

AFP