Iran's Ahmadinejad to Reveal Cabinet
By VOA News
19 August 2009
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will unveil his new Cabinet to parliament Wednesday.
Parliament must then approve Mr. Ahmadinejad's list of ministers before they can serve their Cabinet posts. According to Iran's constitution, the president has two weeks to set up a government and submit his Cabinet nominees to parliament for approval.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was sworn in for his second term as president on August 5. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in Tehran Wednesday to congratulate his Iranian counterpart.
Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election was fiercely disputed, sparking massive opposition protests that led to security officials detaining thousands.
While in Tehran, the Syrian president also is likely to lobby for Clotilde Reiss, a French lecturer among the defendants involved in one of Iran's mass trials for demonstrators detained after the election.
Mr. Assad helped secure her release from prison on bail after six weeks in an Iranian prison.
She is accused of spying during post-election demonstrations and is staying at the French embassy in Tehran pending a verdict in her case.
Mr. Ahmadinejad said Sunday he will appoint at least three women to his Cabinet, a first in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic.
He said in televised remarks that he would name Fatemeh Ajorlu as welfare and social security minister, and Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as minister of health. Dastgerdi is currently a lawmaker.
The Iranian leader did not name a third female minister, but said there would be at least one other woman in the Cabinet.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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