DUBAI – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also sought the appointment of a woman as roads and housing minister. If approved, she would be Iran’s first female minister in over a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to MPs. The chamber, dominated by hardliners, has two weeks to examine the qualifications and express its confidence in the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of Iran’s negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that included limits on Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement and imposed further sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Pezeshkian appointed Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He served as head of the Iranian Air Force from 2018 to 2021. This would be the first time a member of the Iranian Air Force has headed the Defense Ministry.

Pezeshkian proposed Farzaneh Sadegh as minister of roads and housing. Sadegh, 53, is currently a director at the ministry. She would be only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, it is unclear whether she will be confirmed. The hardline parliament seeks further cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. Many MPs voiced their opposition when her name was read out by the speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only female minister confirmed by parliament since the revolution was in 2009, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as Minister of Health.

However, Iranian presidents have also appointed women as vice presidents, a position that does not require parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president for women and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iranian history was Farrokroo Parsa, who served as Minister of Education from 1968 to 1971. The revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry deals with enforcing the obligation for women to wear the Islamic veil. In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for improperly wearing the hijab led to nationwide protests.

Pezeshkian, then a member of parliament, wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl because of her hijab and then hand her body over to her family.”

In comments, he hinted that he wanted less strict enforcement of the hijab law, better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear agreement.

However, the president is likely to face resistance in passing legislation supporting his stated agenda, as the chamber is dominated by hardliners who primarily supported other candidates in the presidential elections in June and July.

The President appointed Mohsen Paknejad as Oil Minister. Paknejad previously served as Deputy Oil Minister.

Pezeshkian also proposed keeping current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi in office. Pezeshkian also appointed current Industry Minister Abbas Aliabadi as energy minister. On Saturday, the president also reappointed Mohammad Eslami as head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents. All of them held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain.