Iran’s president proposes same Cabinet for his second term

Flag of Iran (Photo by Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has proposed Cabinet members for his second term in office, with almost no changes among incumbent portfolios.

Iranian state TV said Tuesday that according to a list of 17 nominees Rouhani submitted to parliament, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi will retain their posts.

Acting defence minister, Gen. Amir Hatami, is expected to officially take over that portfolio while a nominee for science minister has not been announced yet.

Parliament is to vote next week on the Cabinet.

The 68-year-old Rouhani was sworn into office on Saturday. He was re-elected in May on the platform of pursuing a “path of coexistence and interaction with the world.”

Rouhani said he prefers “peace to war and reform to rigidness.”