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Iran’s Pezeshkian Names Cabinet Amid Simmering Israel Tensions

Golnar Motevalli

11 August 2024 at 7:13 am·2-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has picked an architect of the 2015 nuclear deal as his foreign minister and an industry veteran for the top job in oil.

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Pezeshkian presented his nominee ministers to parliament on Sunday, state TV reported, as the Islamic Republic repeated its intention to retaliate against Israel after the killing of a top Hamas leader in Tehran on July 31.

Pezeshkian’s proposed ministers still have to be approved by Iran’s parliament, which is dominated by hard liners opposed to reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers that capped Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief. Former US President Donald Trump exited the accord in 2018.

Pezeshkian has pledged to secure sanctions relief in order to improve the economy and boost the country’s oil exports.

If Pezeshkian’s choices for the top jobs are rejected, that will leave ministers from the administration of the late hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi in charge of key portfolios, until he can name alternatives.

Abbas Araghchi, who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was a nuclear negotiator under moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, has been nominated to run Iran’s foreign ministry.

The acting foreign minister is Ali Bagheri Kani, a close ally of Raisi, who has been handling talks with regional counterparts about the conflict with Israel. He has said that Israel should pay for last month’s killing of a top Hamas leader in Iran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

At the oil ministry, Pezeshkian has chosen Mohsen Paknejad for the top job. He has held several positions as the state-run National Iranian Oil Co. including a stint as acting managing director. He also served under Rouhani.

The only appointment of a woman in the list of 19 ministers is Farzaneh Sadegh Malvajerd, a 48-year-old architect and urban planner, who will serve as Iran’s first female minister of roads and urban development.

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