Who's who in Pezeshkian's cabinet?

The Iranian Parliament unanimously approved President Masoud Pezeshkian’s nineteen ministerial nominees, despite criticisms and controversies during several days of hearings.

Most of the cabinet ministers are not officially affiliated with any political party or group but, nevertheless, have close ties to political figures such as the "Principlist" Speaker of the Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, moderate conservative former President Hassan Rouhani, and hardliner factions.

Despite promises of fresh, younger faces, President Masoud Pezeshkian’s cabinet has sparked a strong backlash among many Iranians on social media and among pundits in Tehran. The lineup is viewed as a disappointing assembly of bureaucrats and conservative figures who are unlikely to bring anything new to the table.

The following is an alphabetical list of the ministers with their brief profiles:

Aliabadi, Abbas

Ministry of Energy

The 62-year-old mechanical engineer was appointed as minister of Industry, Mines and Trade by President Ebrahim Raisi in June 2023 and one of the three ministers in his cabinet that Pezeshkian has retained among his nominees.

The former deputy minister of energy hails from the Revolutionary Guards and between 2009 and 2023 served as CEO of MAPNA Group, a formerly government-owned company responsible for power plants management.

He is not an official member of any political group or party but is believed to be close to the hardliner Paydari Party. He might also have good ties with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Araghchi, Abbas

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Araghchi, 61, who served as the political deputy of the ministry between 2017 and 2021 has underscored his adherence to the same values and beliefs as when he served as a Revolutionary Guard during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

The former ambassador to Finland and Japan and deputy foreign minister was a member of the nuclear negotiation team led by the hardliner Saeed Jalili during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was retained by Mohammad-Javad Zarif until mid-2021, but was pushed aside by the hardline-dominated administration of President Ebrahim Raisi.

Araghchi is among the ministers whose appointment required the express approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who has always had the final say in the nomination of foreign ministers. Pezeshkian says he has got approval for all his ministers.

Araghchi has close ties to the administration of the former President Hassan Rouhani and Pezeshkian’s adviser Mohammad-Javad Zarif.

Araghchi, who before his appointment served as the secretary of the Strategic Foreign Relations Council, a think-tank formed by Khamenei’s order, has no official political affiliations. He can be described as a pragmatist ‘Principlist’ (conservative).

Atabak, Mohammad

Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade

Atabak, 66, is a US-educated civil engineer and former vice-president of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, the so-called ‘parliament of the private sector.’

He served as the economic deputy of the state-controlled Mostazafan Foundation between 2021 and 2023.

Attabak was sanctioned by the US government in 2020 along with Kaveh Pars Holding where he served as CEO between 2011 and 2019.

He is not known to be affiliated to any political parties or groups.

Donyamali, Ahmad

Ministry of Sports and Youth

The 64-year-old lawmaker, former Tehran City Council member, and chairman of Iran's Canoeing Federation Ahmad Donyamali was the CEO of Malavan FC of Anzali before he was appointed minister of sports.

Donyamali has a PhD in urban planning. He has held various government positions in the past two decades including deputy minister of roads and transportation and head of the Ports and Shipping Organization.

He served as Ghalibaf’s deputy in Tehran Municipality. Donyamaliand was believed to be one of the people Pezeshkian nominated as a concession to the Parliament Speaker when there were at least two other candidates with closer ties to the President.

Hashemi, Sattar

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

The little-known technocrat nominated by the Zarif-led steering committee served as technology and innovations deputy to Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi, the former Minister of Communications under Hassan Rouhani between 2019 and 2021.

Hashemi, born in 1976, has no known affiliation to reformist or Principlist political parties or groups.

He holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from Monash University of Australia and is currently a professor of artificial intelligence and machine learning at Shiraz University. He has been an advocate of controversial plans to produce homegrown mobile phones.

He will face the daunting task of addressing internet censorship, a key issue Pezeshkian pledged to resolve during his campaign.

Some believe that he is all for restricting internet access and his advocacy of homegrown mobile phones is another prescription to establish ways of monitoring the populace.

Hemmati, Abdolnaser

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance

The former governor of Iran's Central Bank and a presidential candidate in 2021, Hemmati is a member of the reformist Servants of Construction (Kargozaran-e Sazandegi) Party. He was backed by only some reformists in the 2021 elections, including his own party, and came fourth with just 3% of the vote.

Hemmati has criticized the government’s economic performance over the past three years, yet critics say the Central Bank implemented inflationary policies that severely devalued the national currency during his tenure.

Kazemi, Alireza

Ministry of Education

Kazemi, 59, has a PhD in philosophy of science and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He served as a deputy minister of education in the Rouhani and Raisi administrations and was the deputy of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters before his appointment to the cabinet.

Kazemi’s brother, Mohammad Kazemi, is a deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards and head of its intelligence organization (SAS).

He has advocated the enforcement of compulsory hijab and is among the nominees most opposed by Pezeshkian’s supporters.

Khatib, Esmail

Ministry of Intelligence

Esmail Khatib, 63, served in Ebrahim Raisi’s administration as intelligence minister, whom Pezeshkian has retained.

The US-designated minister of intelligence has strong connections with the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization, having held various high-ranking positions there early in his career.

Khatib has been criticized for failing to prevent several terrorist operations in the past few years as well the recent killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was a government guest in Tehran.

He is believed to be an ally of Ghalibaf.

Meydari, Ahmad

Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare

Meydari, 61, is a veteran institutionalist (socialist) economist and former reformist lawmaker.

Midari who appeared as Pezeshkian’s economic adviser during the election debates, faced substantial opposition from the hardliner-dominated parliament due to his record of opposing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s policies when he was a lawmaker and his refusal to condemn the leaders of the Green Movement. He received the lowest number of votes from lawmakers among all cabinet members.

Meydari supports Pezeshkian's advocacy of free universal education and healthcare.

Momeni, Eskandar

Ministry of Interior

Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni, 62, is a former deputy chief of the Law Enforcement Forces who hails from the Revolutionary Guards. He has served as the Secretary of the Drug Control Taskforce since 2018.

Momeni was the most controversial among the cabinet nominees. Most reformists who are wary of appointing a military figure to head the interior ministry opposed his nomination.

Many hold Momeni responsible for crackdowns on anti-government protests in the past few years. He has repeatedly referred to protesters as “rioters”.

President Pezeshkian has criticized and opposed the enforcement of hijab by the police morality patrols, but Momeni is known for his defense of such measures.

Momeni is believed to be one of at least three that Pezeshkian nominated as a concession to Ghalibaf.

Nasirzadeh, Aziz

Ministry of Defence

Brigadier General Nasirzadeh, 59, is currently the deputy chief of the Armed Forces General Staff. He hails from Iran's regular Army where he served as deputy air force commander between 2018 and 2021.

He is believed to be close to Ghalibaf. He received the highest votes of confidence from lawmakers.

Nouri-Ghezeljeh, Gholamreza

Ministry of Agriculture

Nouri-Ghezeljeh, 54, a lawmaker, is a member of the reformist Servants of Construction (Kargozaran) Party. Along with Pezeshkian he co-founded the Independents' Faction of Parliament.

He has a PhD in agricultural economy and has a record of serving as deputy agriculture minister.

Paknejad, Mohsen

Ministry of Oil

Paknejad, 57, has a master’s degree in industrial engineering. He joined the oil ministry in 1991 and served in various positions including deputy minister between 2018 and 2021 in the administration of President Hassan Rouhani.

Paknejad must address challenges including an inevitable reduction in government fuel subsidies and the politically volatile issue of increasing prices. He also faces huge problems Iran's oil industry is grappling with due to sanctions.

He is believed to be close to Rouhani’s political circle.

Rahimi, Amin-Hossein

Ministry of Justice

Rahimi, 56, is one of the three ministers in Ebrahim Raisi’s government that Pezeshkian has retained.

He has also served as deputy for human resources and cultural affairs, prosecutor general of the Court of Audit, and advisor to the head of the Judiciary.

Rahimi does not belong to any political party or group but hails from the circle of Principlist (right-winger) Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei. He also has close ties to hardliner Paydari group.

Sadegh-Mavaljerd, Farzaneh

Ministry of Roads and Urban Development

Sadegh-Mavaljerd, 48, was the only female nominee in Pezeshkian’s proposed cabinet and is now the second female minister in the Islamic Republic.

She has served nearly thirty years at the ministry and is currently its deputy for architecture and urban planning.

She does not have known political affiliations.

Salehi, Abbas

Culture and Islamic Guidance

Salehi, 61, is a former minister of culture and Islamic guidance in Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet between 2013 and 2017 and currently heads the Ettelaat Newspaper Institute and the International University of Islamic Denominations.

He has a seminary education and close ties to Shia seminaries and Islamic Propaganda Organization but does not wear clerical robes.

He is believed to be close to Hassan Rouhani’s political circle, although he is criticized for his weak record in the Rouhani administration.

When defending his proposed cabinet, Pezeshkian said Salehi had refused his invitation but Khamenei insisted that he accepted the offer.

Salehi-Amiri, Reza

Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts

Salehi-Amiri, 63, served as minister of culture and Islamic guidance from 2016 to 2017 and as acting minister of sports from 2013 to 2014 in Hassan Rouhani’s administration.

He hails from the intelligence ministry and has held various other positions including as adviser to the president and head of the National Library under Rouhani as well as social and cultural deputy of the reformist mayor of Tehran, Mohammad-Ali Najafi, for a few months in 2017.

He is known as a moderate conservative and a close ally of Rouhani.

Simaei-Sarraf, Hossein

Ministry of Science, Research and Technology

Simaei-Sarraf, 56, is a lawyer, politician, and university professor who served as the Cabinet Secretary in Hassan Rouhani’s administration between 2019 and 2021.

He is not an official member of any political party or group.

Zafarghandi, Mohammad-Reza

Ministry of Health

Zafarghandi, 66, is a former Chairman of Iran's non-governmental Medical Council.

He was among the outspoken critics of the government’s vaccination policies during the pandemic. He opposed giving an official status to ‘Islamic Medicine’ strongly promoted by some clerics and called it meddling in science.

He has also repeatedly warned about circumstances leading to widespread medical staff emigration.

Zafarghandi who heads the Islamic Association of Iranian Medical Community is the only “progressive reformist” in Pezeshkian’s proposed cabinet.