Iranian President Due in Parliament Tuesday to Defend New Cabinet
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to attend an open session of the parliament on Tuesday to defend the nominees for cabinet posts, the spokesman for the presiding board of the parliament said.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Behrouz Nemati pointed to the process of approving Rouhani’s new cabinet and said according to internal regulations, he will attend the parliament on Tuesday to defend his proposed candidates.
He further emphasized that vice-presidents and proposed ministers also plan to attend the open session of the parliament.
Nemati added that President Rouhani is slated to brief the MPs on his future plans and expound on the major policies of the 12th administration.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rouhani submitted the list of his proposed ministerial picks to the Parliament for a vote of confidence, four days after his swearing-in ceremony.
President Rouhani took the oath of office on Saturday. He had two weeks to submit his new cabinet to the parliament but drew up the shortlist in only four days.
The proposed ministers in the list are as follows, according to the administration’s official website:
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance: Massoud Karbasian
Minister of Intelligence: Seyed Mahmoud Alawi
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Mohammad Javad Zarif
Minister of Communication and Information Technology: Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi
Minister of Education: Seyed Mohammad Bathayee
Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education: Seyed Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi
Minister of Labor, Cooperatives, and Welfare: Ali Rabiyee
Minister of Agricultural Jihad: Mahmoud Hojjati Najafabadi
Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics: Brigadier General Amir Hatami
Minister of Justice: Seyed Alireza Avayee
Minister of Roads and Urban Development: Abbas Akhoundi
Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade: Mohammad Shariatmadari
Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance: Seyed Abbas Salehi
Interior Minister: Abdolreza Rahmaini Fazli
Oil Minister: Bijan Namdar Zanganeh
Minister of Energy: Habibollah Bitaraf
Minister of Sports and Youth: Massoud Soltanifar
Half of President Rouhani’s proposed cabinet has remained unchanged compared to his first term.
Only the position of minister of Sciences, Research, and Technology is still falling vacant.
