Pezeshkian to present his controversial cabinet to parliament

President Massoud Pezeshkian's submits the names of his cabinet ministers to the Iranian parliament (Majles) on Sunday, six weeks after he won the election and began a hard process of choosing ministers.

In the days leading up to the Sunday parliamentary meeting, strong opposition emerged from politicians and the public alike against the individuals rumored to be named as Pezeshkian's ministers, whose names had been leaked to the press.

Iranian investigative reporter Behnam Gholipour posted a screenshot of a tweet by Ali Agha Mohammadi, an official at Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office, on August 8 in which he named some of the new ministers by their surname. Gholipour wrote that that the official deleted the tweet later on the same day. These must have been names presented by Pezeshkian for Khamenei's review.

The 14 men on the list are: [Esmail Khatib] as Intelligence Minister, Taghavinejad as Labor Minister, Aliabadi as Minister of Energy, Eslami as Road Minister, [Abbas] Araqchi as Foreign Minister, [Abdolnaser] Hemmati as Economy Minister, Abbas Salehi as Culture Minister, Rahimi as Justice Minister, Majid Ansari as Interior Minister, Dr. Sadeghi as the Minister for Sports and Youths, [Majid] Hosseini as oil Minister, Dr. Dadandish as the Minister of Education and Zafarghandi as Health Minister.

Conservative commentator Naser Imani has told Khabar Online website that Pezeshkian was under immense pressure during the week about choosing his cabinet ministers. Imani said that he defends the idea of having ministers younger than 55 years old, but there is nothing wrong in having older politicians as vice presidents. However, he noted that some vice presidents are over 70 years of age and that is not quite right.

Pezeshkian had repeatedly promised during the campaign to form a "young government" and not to re-cycle the same politicians who have rotated in different governments.

The politician also said that some of those who call on Pezeshkian to form "a government of national accord" expect the president to have 10 ministers from each political faction. Imani said this is counterproductive. He reiterated that Pezeshkian is under pressure by leading politicians to give top jobs to individuals with certain political affiliation.

Conservative political activist Hassan Sobhani Nia also told Nameh News that the long delay in introducing cabinet ministers to the Majles is caused by the pressures of politicians in various political factions who want top jobs from Pezeshkian for the members of their faction. This comes while Pezeshkian has started his work as Preszident in a tough political situation and the people have high expectations of him, Sobhani Nia said.

In another development, former reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi said that "among the news about possible ministers, none has been as disgusting as the reports that say Pezeshkian is going to reinstate current Education Minister [Reza Morad Sahrai." He said those who put forward Sahrai's name probably do not live in Iran. Sahrai's performance as President Raisi's Minister of Education has been too problematic and he has been harshly criticized for saying that only those who pay good money deserve better education. Sahrai's name was on some of the list of possible candidates for ministerial posts.

On the other hand, according to Nameh News, while Pezeshkian was working hard during August to get Khamenei's confirmation for his choice of cabinet ministers, hardline lawmakers at the Iranian parliament were trying to impose their own lists of candidates on Pezeshkian. They guarantee that they will easily give vote of confidence to the ministers if they choose them.

Pezeshkian is expected to introduce up to 19 ministers to the parliament. Former lawmaker Mansoor Haqiqatpoor has said that getting Khamenei's endorsement before introducing the ministers to the Majles would limit the parliament's choices as it is difficult in Iran to oppose Khamenei.