Iran's moderate President, Mr Mohammad Khatami, officially sworn in to a second and final four-year term in office last week, presented the parliament yesterday with a cabinet list which includes new members from the ranks of Iran's reform movement.
Mr Khatami's list revealed a total of five new faces for the posts of ministers of economy, labour, transport, health and education, while 15 ministers retained their portfolios.
Reformists clearly represent the majority in the new cabinet list which was handed over for examination to the reformist parliament, according to political observers in Tehran.
The new cabinet is "60 per cent reformist, 27 per cent independent, and 13 per cent moderate," the centrist Entekhab newspaper said.
Mr Khatami's brother, Mr Mohammad-Reza Khatami MP, read the list before the parliament. The list revealed that the Foreign Minister, Mr Kamal Kharazi, the Oil Minister, Mr Bijan Namdar-Zangeneh, the Defence Minister Mr Ali Shamkhani, the Intelligence Minister, Mr Ali Yunessi, and the Interior Minister, Mr Abdolvahed Moussavi-Lari, had retained their posts.
The five new reformist ministerial candidates nominated by Mr Khatami also enjoyed support from the nation's powerful conservatives, which back supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who is also the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, has a strong say in the choice of candidates for the posts of foreign minister, defence and intelligence ministers.
Among the newly elected is Mr Tahmasb Mazaheri, a former radical turned reformist chosen to head the Economy Ministry. Mr Mazaheri once headed the Disinherited Foundation, which manages the assets from the regime of Iran's late shah.
Contrary to popular expectations, Mr Khatami's new cabinet list does not include any women. In late June, female members of parliament called on the head of state to award several of his ministerial posts to women. No woman has so far held a ministerial post in Islamic Iran.
After the complete cabinet list is put forward, parliament will hold a vote of confidence for each minister, expected to last a week.
Meanwhile, over 100 people have been killed and 35 others are still missing following torrential rains which sparked heavy flooding in northern Iran, the state IRNA news agency reported yesterday.
The deputy Golestan governor said some 1,500 houses, 100 cars and 80 km of roads, as well as 15,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed since the flooding began on Friday.