Iran’s newly-appointed President Masoud Pezeshkian has proposed a list of his picks for cabinet members to the Parliament.
The president appeared before the Parliament on Sunday, offering a list of his proposed ministers for a vote of confidence.
Among his proposed ministers is Abbas Araqchi who has been named for minister of foreign affairs. Araqchi, deputy foreign minister under former president Hassan Rouhani, was also a senior member of Iran’s negotiating team in nuclear talks with the West which led to a landmark deal in 2015.
Abdolnaser Hemmati, a former central bank governor, has also been proposed to take the helm of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.
Abbas Aliabadi, the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade of the late president Ebrahim Raisi is the president’s pick for energy ministry.
The president has also named Mohammad Atabak, a private sector actor, for the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.
Mohsen Paknejad, a former deputy in the state-run National Iranian Oil Co., has been proposed for the strategically important oil ministry.
The Parliament is scheduled to immediately hold discussions on the qualifications of the proposed ministers and in an open session on August 21, the proposed ministers will either win the vote of confidence of the Parliament or have to be replaced by new nominees.
