Even President Masoud Pezeshkian’s supporters criticize his cabinet choice, knowing key ministers, including Foreign, Intelligence and Defense Ministers were selected by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
More than a few Iranian analysts have noted on Sunday and Monday that the list of 19 cabinet ministers handed to Parliament reflect selections made by Khamenei, the IRGC, and other influential power centers. This includes key lawmakers who will review the ministers’ qualifications and backgrounds before giving, or withholding, their vote of confidence next week.
At least six of the newly proposed ministers served in former President Ebrahim Raisi’s cabinet, either as ministers or deputy ministers. This continuity is partly due to Pezeshkian’s campaign pledge to carry forward Raisi’s initiatives.
More than a few including Sports and Youths Affairs and Interior ministers are backed by Parliament (Majles) Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Again, more than a few Iran analysts including Dariush Memar pointed out that the cabinet works like a private joint stock company whose board members are determined by stakeholders.
Referring to the ministers Ghalibaf has imposed on the cabinet, Memar remarked that Ghalibaf’s share of appointments is so significant it feels as though he himself won the presidential election.
Farnoosh Amirshahi pointed out that the combination of the cabinet shows that rather than determining Pezeshkian’s policies, they reflect shares of Iran’s leadership and security organizations, and that there is very little sign to show that the President wants to deliver his promises to those who voted for him.
Nonetheless, Iranian sociologist Mohammad Fazeli, a supporter of Pezeshkian argued that 11 of the Ministers, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Economy Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati and Labor Minister Ahmad Maydari are strong and defendable choices. He also pointed out that some others including Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi have been chosen by the hard core of the regime, meaning by Khamenei.
Journalist Faraj Sarkoohi wrote in a post on X that Pezeshkian had said clearly and repeatedly that he was going to carry out Khamenei’s ideas and he did that. Meanwhile, Farzaneh Sadegh, the only woman in the list was harshly criticized by hardliners for being “an enemy of Iranian and Islamic architecture,” adding that she is against mass housing projects and she was fired by the previous government for the same reason.
Iranian journalist Mazyar Khosravi wrote that although he believes the proposed cabinet is acceptable in view of the current political circumstances, he opposes some of the ministers and particularly thinks the choices of Intelligence and Interior Ministers are the government’s weakest links.
Conservative journalist Mohammad Reza Mohajeri wrote that “The cabinet was supposed to become like a third cabinet for [former moderate President Hassan] Rouhani. They were carried away and they formed President Raisi’s second cabinet!”
Although Pezeshkian won the presidential election thanks to Iranian Reform Camp’s support, many say that there is only one known reformist figure in the cabinet: Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi. The Reform Front’s Leader Azar Mansouri and its spokesperson Javad Emam have criticized Pezeshkian for his choices and former reformist lawmaker Parvaneh Salahsouri wrote: “Pezeshkian failed in his first test. The cabinet is formed not based on merits and standards of the steering committee that was tasked to choose the ministers. It is rather formed by factional interests and “others'” intervention. Based on international experience, such cabinets are likely to be short-lived.”
