Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian is facing fierce criticism over his cabinet formation, even before his government has been confirmed by parliament.
According to opponents, some of the selected conservative ministers have nothing to do with the reform course that Pezeshkian promised during the campaign.
Pezeshkian responded by saying he is open to criticism, but that ministers should be given a chance.
“Wait until the cabinet gets to work and criticize the cabinet based on its performance,” he wrote on X on Tuesday.
Political observers believe that Pezeshkian was forced by the hardliner-dominated parliament to add certain names to the list of 19 cabinet members.
In protest over the cabinet list, Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday he had resigned as Pezeshkian’s vice president after just 11 days in the job, saying his position did not require parliamentary approval.
Zarif said he disagreed with at least seven of the 19 cabinet nominees and had therefore decided to return to his academic work.
The former foreign minister was seen as one of the key figures in Pezeshkian’s future government due to his diplomatic experience.
Pezeshkian had hoped to resume nuclear negotiations with the West, with Zarif in a leading role.
Zarif served as the country’s top diplomat between 2013 and 2021 and, as head of Iran’s negotiating team in Vienna in 2015, was able to conclude the international nuclear deal with six world powers.
