Iranian president names female VP

Iranian president Hasan Rouhani on Monday appointed Elham Aminzadeh, a law and public policy professor at Tehran University, as Vice-President of Legal Affairs, effectively making her the first woman in the Islamic Republic’s history to hold the influential position.

Rouhani’s nomination of Aminzadeh, who holds a degree in international law from the University of Glasgow, will still have to be officially approved by the Iranian parliament.

In a statement published by Fars News Agency, Rouhani praised Aminzadeh and noted her “scientific competence and judicial qualifications.”

The Iranian president also presented his new 11 member Cabinet, consisting of relative moderates and reform-minded, Western educated technocrats.

Rouhani said the Cabinet reflects his will to improve Iran’s economy, which was ravaged by international sanctions.

Hard-line parliamentarians challenged Monday the Cabinet proposed by Iran’s new president, accusing him of nominating ministers who are friendly to the West or who back “sedition” against the country’s clerically dominated system of government.

Rouhani fired back at his critics, saying he chose Western-educated ministers based on their competence and that the country is tired of “extremism.”

In what is expected to be three days of debate ending Wednesday, legislators will vote individually to approve or reject each minister in Rouhani’s 18-member Cabinet. Hard-liners are using the debates to launch their first major salvo against Rouhani’s agenda since his election in a landslide victory in June, won with the backing of centrists and reformists.

Rouhani’s victory — he won an outright majority in the first round of the vote, leaving all his rivals far behind — gives him a strong mandate. But conservatives still dominate parliament.

The core of Rouhani’s team includes figures whose academic pedigrees run through places such as California, Washington and London. Rouhani himself studied in Scotland.

Lawmakers implied they were trying to bring down Iran’s clerically dominated system, linking them to the 2009 street protests, referred to by hard-liners as “sedition.”

“A majority of the proposed Cabinet are either members of the seditious (group) or Western-educated figures,” hardline lawmaker Ataollah Hakimi told the house. “Why are you (Rouhani) seeking to revive sedition?”

Rouhani however suggested that the Iranian electorate, weary of economic hardships linked to sanctions imposed on Iran over its disrupted nuclear program, has endorsed his agenda.

“Society is tired of extremism. Moderation is the path the nation has welcomed,” he said.

He said he named Western-educated ministers because of their competence to address both the impact of sanctions, which primarily target the oil and banking sectors, as well as mismanagement. He also said he would try to mend Iran’s foreign relationships.

“The government pursues a parallel two-pronged path. On one hand, we will try in the arena of diplomacy … to overcome the existing international challenge and stop the current inappropriate trend,” he said during the debate. “On the other hand, we consider the existing shortage of resources as an opportunity to upgrade activities, increase economic resources and allocate the existing resources in an optimal manner.”

Rouhani said his government’s top priority will be to control inflation.

Even if the president’s picks are approved by parliament, it is unclear how much they could actually influence Iranian policies and foster potential outreach diplomacy such as direct talks with the US or possible breakthroughs in wider negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

In Iran’s system, the president is usually tasked with managing the economy and has considerable influence in all spheres of government. But senior clerics have final say on all matters of state and direct control over security policy, including the nuclear program. The West says Iran wants to develop weapons technology, but Iran denies this and says its program is for peaceful purposes.