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Iran's president says three women to join his new Cabinet

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-17 09:52

TEHERAN: Iran's president said last Sunday that he will nominate three women to join his new Cabinet, a move that could produce the first female ministers in the country in over 30 years.

The announcement appears to be an attempt by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to enlist the support of Iranian women as he fends off criticism from the opposition that his June re-election was fraudulent. The appointments seem unlikely to appease reformists since both women he named last Sunday are fellow hard-liners.

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Teheran put on trial 25 more activists and opposition supporters last Sunday, including a Jewish teenager, for their alleged involvement in the turmoil following the recent presidential election. The new defendants brought the total number to 135.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared those who took to the streets after his disputed victory to be agents of foreign enemies seeking to topple the country's Islamic system.

He said the West must be held to account for stoking unrest in Iran after the June 12 presidential vote. The new indictment charged that some of the defendants had used explosives and attacked Basij (voluntary militia) forces.

Ahmadinejad was sworn in on August 5 for a second term amid prolonged controversy over his landslide victory. Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots in the election, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent.

Mousavi's supporters have participated in massive rallies in Teheran and other cities following the disputed election. Moussavi announced the formation of a new social and political movement on Saturday, following through on a promise made last month.

In a live TV interview, Ahmadinejad nominated six proposed candidates for his new Cabinet, including two women nominees. He said at least one other woman would also be added to the list that he would forward to the parliament on Wednesday.

Iran's Cabinet has 21 ministers and 12 vice presidents. Ahmadinejad currently has a female vice president on his Cabinet who is in charge of the environment. Iran's last female minister, Farrokhroo Parsay, served from 1968 to 1977. She was executed on charges of corruption after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

AP-Xinhua