Iranian Parliament Approves New President's Cabinet

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Facts

  • Lawmakers in Iran voted on Wednesday in favor of all 19 cabinet ministers chosen by Pres. Masoud Pezeshkian, the first time in more than two decades that the 290-seat parliament approved the entire proposed cabinet.[1][2]
  • Key figures include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a career diplomat who was part of the team that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal, and Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, reportedly the chief of the Iranian Air Force from 2018 to 2021.[3][4]
  • Nasirzadeh was the most voted among the ministerial nominees, with 281, while Health Minister Mohammadreza Zafarghandi received the lowest, with 163 votes. Roads Minister Farzaneh Sadegh secured 231 votes to become the first female minister in Iran in over a decade.[4][5]
  • Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — and intelligence agencies such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — had approved the final list before the vote, a claim that could prompt questions over the role of parliament in Iran.[6][7]
  • Pezeshkian, a former reformist lawmaker who won a runoff presidential election on July 5 with 53.66% of the votes, was sworn in on July 31 to succeed the late Ebrahim Raisi after a helicopter crash on May 19.[8][9]
  • The vote of confidence for all ministerial nominees comes as Iran has seen tensions rise with Israel and the US following the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh just hours after he attended the inauguration of Pezeshkian.[10][9]

Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]France 24, [3]Associated Press, [4]Al-Monitor, [5]PressTV, [6]Voice of America, [7]Iranwire, [8]Tasnim News Agency, [9]Middleeastmonitor and [10]Financial Times.

Narratives

  • Pro-Iran narrative, as provided by Tehran Times. Though close to the reformist faction, Pezeshkian was able to get all of his nominees approved by parliament as he formed a national unity cabinet to overcome the political divide. Cooperation between parliament and the president is crucial now that Iran faces illegal US sanctions and Israeli international terrorism.
  • Anti-Iran narrative, as provided by Iran International. The vote in parliament has exposed the true nature of the Islamic Republic's political system. On paper, lawmakers focus on the governance agenda and policy framework of the new president and his cabinet ministers during the hearings. However, all they truly care about is the nominees' loyalty to Khamenei.

Predictions