Iran’s Parliament Approves Rouhani Cabinet Nominees

The second administration of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani was officially approved Sunday, during a parliamentary session that cleared the way for 16 of Rouhani’s 17 cabinet appointees to assume their posts.

Rouhani's nominee for the Energy Ministry, Habibollah Bitaraf, failed to win the parliament's support, while the other 16 nominees secured the necessary votes to begin work. Members of Parliament voted to reappoint the following to their posts for a second term:

Agriculture Jihad Minister                                          Mahmoud Hojjati ye-Najaf-Abadi

Communications & Information Technology              Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi

Cooperatives, Labor & Social Welfare                       Ali Rabi'ee

Culture & Islamic Guidance                                       Abbas Salehi

Defense & Armed Forces Logistics                           Gen. Amir Hatami

Economic Affairs & Finance                                      Masoud Karbasian

Education                                                                  Mohammad Bathayee

Foreign Affairs                                                           Mohammad Javad Zarif

Health & Medical Education                                      Hassan Ghazi-zade-ye-Hashemi

Industry, Mine & Trade                                              Mohammad Shariatmadari

Intelligence & National Security                                Mahmoud Alavi

Interior                                                                       Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli

Justice                                                                       Alireza Avayee

Petroleum (Oil)                                                          Bijan Namdar Zanganeh

Roads & Urban Development                                   Abbas Akhoundi

Science, Research & Technology                             Mohammad Farhadi

Youth Affairs & Sports                                               Massoud Soltanifar

Hours after the parliamentary vote, Rouhani appointed his new deputies, including three female vice presidents. Masoumeh Ebtekar, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization in President Rouhani’s first term and best known in the U.S. for her role in the 1979 hostage taking crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, was appointed as the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs. La’ya Joneidi was named vice-president for legal affairs. Shahindokht Molaverdi was appointed Special Assistant to the President for Citizenship Rights.

The 68-year old Rouhani won a second term as Iran’s 12th president after securing 57 percent of the vote on May 19. He is considered politically moderate in comparison to other Iranian politicians, and has faced criticism from conservatives for his efforts to rebuild ties with the West.

Addressing parliament on August 20, Rouhani stressed the need to further developed Iran’s energy sector. While the overall budget for the government is pegged at around $92 billion in the coming year, the country requires about $200 billion of investments in its oil and gas industries.

“The major duty of the foreign ministry is to protect the nuclear deal and not allow America and Iran’s enemies to succeed,” Rouhani said, adding that “the second important duty of the foreign ministry is economy, and it should attract foreign investment and foreign technologies to the country”

The deal Rouhani referred to in his speech on Sunday was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached over two years ago by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, whereby Iran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions. was negotiated under President Rouhani’s first administration, in July 2015. US President Donald Trump reluctantly certified on July 17 that Iran is complying with the deal.

On August 15, President Rouhani warned the US after a new round of sanctions was slapped on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) just two weeks earlier. Rouhani threatened that any more sanctions set Iran up for pulling out of the JCPOA.

Two days before Rouhani’s statement, the Iranian parliament voted in favor of allocating an additional $520 million to finance the development of ballistic missiles and expansion of the IRGC presence in the region.