Najmeh Bozorgmehr<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIran\u2019s hardline parliament has endorsed the cabinet proposed by reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, an important victory for the new head of government and a moment of national unity as the Islamic Republic faced mounting foreign and domestic challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presenting his 19 nominees ahead of a vote in parliament on Wednesday, Pezeshkian said his new cabinet was a compromise built to avoid political discord, which was necessary to bolster unity within the political hierarchy and better address the nation\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He admitted that some of his ministers were selected by Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, a diplomat and former nuclear negotiator, and Farzaneh Sadegh, the sole female minister who will take charge of roads and urban development. Sadegh is only the second woman to hold a ministerial position in Iran\u2019s male-dominated government since the 1979 Islamic revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know we didn\u2019t choose these ministers without co-ordination\u201d with Khamenei, the intelligence service and the powerful Revolutionary Guard, said Pezeshkian in a rare public acknowledgment of Iran\u2019s political structures. \u201cI had certain ideals, but I compromised because unity is more important to me than those ideals. When we stand together, we\u2019re stronger than when we\u2019re powerful but divided,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Araghchi won the support of 247 of the 288 MPs present and 231 backed Sadegh, with most candidates given strong support. The lowest number was for health minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi, who got 163 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The show of unity comes at a critical time for Iran, as it continues to vow retaliation against Israel following the assassination last month of Hamas\u2019s political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was killed in Tehran just hours after attending Pezeshkian\u2019s inauguration ceremony, which Iran has blamed on Israel. It remains unclear why Iran or its ally Hizbollah have not so far responded and whether they plan to do so in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pezeshkian was the unexpected victor of the presidential election that followed the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May. He won the run-off vote against hardliner Saeed Jalili after a campaign that promised to ease domestic political tensions via the formation of a national unity government, and a pledge to seek relief from US sanctions through the resumption of nuclear negotiations with global powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hardliners in parliament have criticised Araghchi and the previous nuclear negotiations he was involved in from 2013-2015, with some threatening to vote against his confirmation. Amir-Hossein Sabeti, a hardline parliamentarian, went further by arguing that \u201cone man\u201d \u2014 a reference to the supreme leader \u2014 should not determine who parliament endorsed, as this undermined the legislative body\u2019s legitimacy. His remarks on Sunday sent shockwaves through Iran\u2019s political establishment, even among fellow hardliners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts believe the regime is attempting to rein in the country\u2019s more extreme elements and, through appointments such as Araghchi, give nuclear negotiations another chance to strike a deal that can alleviate the country\u2019s economic woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis vote of confidence to all ministers was an endorsement of moderation and the failure of radical hardliners,\u201d Mehdi Arab Sadegh, a conservative analyst, wrote on X, adding that \u201crationality won over extremism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Financial Times <\/p>\n