Iranian president names moderate and female ministers as he unveils cabinet

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has nominated a moderate diplomat as foreign minister and a female official as urban development minister as he presented his new cabinet.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf announced on Sunday the names of the 19-member cabinet presented by the president during an assembly session broadcast live on state television.
The nominations appear in line with the hopes that the election of Pezeshkian last month, to replace the hardline Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May, could lead to a thaw in Iran’s relations with the West.
However, the parliament, which is dominated by hardliners, will begin a review of the nominees starting on Monday, and then vote on whether or not to confirm the lineup.
For the foreign minister, Pezeshkian picked Abbas Araghchi, a 61-year-old career diplomat. Araghchi, who has extolled open, yet critical, talks with the West, served as the chief negotiator in nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers from 2013 to 2021.
He also served as Iran’s ambassador to Japan and Finland, and as a deputy of then-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was instrumental in reaching the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.