TEHRAN/ SINGAPORE (Agencies)
Iran's parliament approved on Sunday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominations for the final three posts in his 21-member cabinet as the United States and Russia warned Tehran could face new sanctions if there is no progress towards easing fears over its nuclear program.
MP Hamid Reza Hajibabai, former interior minister Sadeq Mahsouli and Majid Namjou, a former deputy energy minister, were voted in to head the education, welfare and energy portfolios respectively.
Ahmadinejad said the presence of women in cabinet raised the \"self-confidence\" of Iranian women On Saturday, newspapers wrongly named the proposed new energy minister as Ali Zabihi.
On Sept. 3, parliament approved 18 members of the new Ahmadinejad cabinet, including the Islamic republic's first woman minister, a doctor who holds the health portfolio.
At the time parliament rejected the nominations for education, welfare and energy ministers on the grounds that they were unqualified.
Ahmadinejad's June election to a second four-year term triggered the worst political crisis in the Islamic republic's 30-year history, with opposition candidates and their supporters claiming the vote had been rigged.
During his first term, the president and parliament faced off more than once over proposed ministers MPs considered to be unsuitable. |
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Russian warnings " Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran appears to have been unable to say yes to what everyone acknowledges is a creative and constructive approach " US President Obama Meanwhile Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his American counterpart Barack Obama warned that time was running out for diplomacy to resolve a crisis over Iran's nuclear program.
The U.S. had been willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept a U.N.-brokered deal meant to allay suspicions it is after atomic bombs but which has drawn Iranian objections, a U.S. diplomat said a week ago.
On Sunday Obama, speaking after talks with Medvedev on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific meeting in Singapore, suggested patience was running low.
"Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran appears to have been unable to say yes to what everyone acknowledges is a creative and constructive approach," Obama said while seated next to Medvedev.
"We are running out of time with respect to that approach."
But taking a softer tone against Iran Medvedev said: "We are prepared to work further" to ensure Iran's nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
"Thanks to joint efforts the process of (the Iran talks) has not stopped but we are not completely happy about its pace. If something does not work there are other means to move the process further," he said. |
For list of Iran's completed cabinet members Click Here
