Tehran, July 18: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is gradually filling the positions for his second term’s Cabinet with his close allies.
Ahmadinejad appointed one of his youngest confidants, Mehrdad Bazrpash, as a deputy president and the head of Iran’s National Youth Organization to replace the cleric Mohammad Javad Haj-Aliakbari.
Bazrpash, 30, will need to combine his new responsibilities running Iran’s second-biggest automaker, SAIPA, the directorship of which was given to him 2 years ago by the president.
The appointment came one day after the president named his close aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei as his new first deputy.
Mashaei served as the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization before his latest elevation.
Prior to the tourism portfolio, Mashaei was the head of Tehran Municipality’s Cultural and Art Organization during Ahmadinejad’s mayorship. Mashaei also served for a while as a deputy interior minister.
Mashaei is being replaced by Hamid Baqaei.
Ahmadinejad announced also the replacement for Gholam Reza Aqazadeh, who resigned last week from heading the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Vice-President for Atomic Energy, after 12 years. The new man is Ali Akbar Salehi, a former Iran envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a former president of the Sharif University of Technology.
Ahmadinejad also appointed Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi as his “First Assistant,” and Massoud Zaribafan as another deputy president and head of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans’ Affairs.
Unlike cabinet ministers, deputy presidents and advisers do not need to secure the acquiescence of the Majlis (Iran’s parliament) before their confirmation.
—–Agencies