Iranian Parliament Approves New Cabinet of 19 Ministers

The Iranian parliament has ended the debate on nominees for the country’s new cabinet and approved all of President Masoud Pezeshkian’s 19 cabinet picks.

In a session, following four days of intense deliberations and hearings, the lawmakers voted in favor of all 19 ministers proposed by the new president.

Pezeshkian submitted the list of his proposed ministerial picks to the parliament for a vote of confidence on August 11, 12 days after his swearing-in ceremony.

The lawmakers convened on Saturday to discuss the qualifications and programs of the ministerial nominees and the process continued till before the voting took place.

Among the ministerial nominees to get the parliament's nod is Abbas Aragchi, who will take over as the Islamic Republic of Iran's new foreign minister, succeeding Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. 

Ahead of the voting, President Pezeshkian addressed the parliament and urged them to approve his ministerial nominees while also calling for "unity and cohesion."

Following the tragic helicopter crash that resulted in the death of President Ebrahim Raeisi on May 19, Pezeshkian emerged as one of the six final candidates selected by the Constitutional Council from a pool of 80 individuals vying for the presidency.

He won the highest number of votes in the first round of the presidential election on June 28 and faced off the runner-up, Saeed Jalili, in the runoff election on July 5.

The physician-turned-politician from northern Iran's Tabriz city and former health minister won the runoff by garnering 53.66 percent of the total number of votes cast.

Among the approved ministers is Abbas Araghchi, who will serve as a foreign minister.

Araghchi, who served as deputy foreign minister during Hassan Rouhani's government, will succeed Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was killed in a plane crash on May 19.