Iran’s new president presented his Cabinet for a vote of confidence in parliament on Sunday, state media reported, proposing veteran pragmatic diplomat Abbas Araqchi as foreign minister at a time of heightened regional tensions.
President Masoud Pezeshkian is forming his Cabinet at a time when the risk of the conflict in Gaza spiraling into a wider regional war has grown, with threats of retaliation against Israel following the recent killings of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Iran and Fuad Shukr, the Hezbollah military commander in Beirut.
Pezeshkian won a snap election last month after hardline President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May, promising to improve ties with the world, pursue a pragmatic foreign policy and ease social restrictions domestically.
Pezeshkian’s proposed Cabinet requires the approval of lawmakers and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said parliamentary commissions would begin reviewing his nominees on Monday.
Araqchi, 61, who was Iran’s ambassador to several countries including Japan, played a key role in negotiating Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers, from which then-US President Donald Trump pulled out in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
Araqchi later led Iran’s negotiators during multilateral efforts to revive the deal through indirect diplomacy with Washington – which were ultimately unsuccessful – before he was replaced by hardline leader Ali Bagheri Kani in 2021.
The president’s powers in the Islamic Republic are limited by the powers of the Supreme Leader, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, appoints the head of the judiciary, and has the final say on major policies.
Tensions between Iran and the West have escalated over Tehran’s rapidly expanding nuclear programme and Israel’s threat to “severely punish” Israel for Haniyeh’s killing.
Tehran and Hamas have accused Israel of the killing, although Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility.
Additionally, Iran’s president nominated Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister, who served as deputy oil minister between 2018 and 2021, overseeing hydrocarbon resources.
Pezeshkian has also nominated Farzaneh Sadeq as Minister of Roads and Transport. If approved by parliament, she will become the second female cabinet minister in the Islamic Republic’s history.
The first appointment was made in 2009 by hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was president at the time.
According to the President’s proposed appointment, Raisi’s Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib will retain his position in the new cabinet.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
