Who are the key ministers in Iran's new government?

Iran’s Parliament on Wednesday approved all the ministers put forward by reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government, which is set to confront numerous challenges at a delicate time for the Middle East.

It is the first time in more than two decades that an Iranian president has had all his candidates approved, offering Mr Pezeshkian a small victory at the start of an already turbulent tenure marked by last month’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was in Tehran for the President's inauguration.

Mr Pezeshkian was elected in a snap vote after the death of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. His government will have the task of continuing Mr Raisi’s legacy and policies.

Here are the key figures in the new cabinet.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

Abbas Araghchi is a former nuclear negotiator who certain observers say could potentially steer Iran towards resuming talks with the West.

He is best known for his role as Iran's chief negotiator in nuclear talks with western powers between 2013 and 2021. During his period the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed, followed by its subsequent failure when former US president Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018.

His appointment comes at a time of escalating tension in the region between Iran, together with its proxy network, and Israel.

Iran has also vowed to retaliate against Mr Haniyeh’s assassination on July 31, which Tehran blames on Israel. For its part, Israel has not claimed responsibility for the fatal attack. After the killing, Mr Araghchi expressed his condolences in a post on X, calling it a “terrorist attack by Israel”.

His predecessor Hossein Amirabdollahian brought Iran closer to other regional powers, most notably rekindling diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia in March 2023.

Mr Araghchi is expected to continue these policies and despite being perceived as a pro-western official, he is unlikely to pursue any change that is not approved by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr Pezeshkian said Mr Araghchi had already been approved by the supreme leader even before being added to the list of potential ministers. According to the spokesman of the Iranian Parliament’s foreign policy commission, Mr Araghchi told them he was not part of the “New York faction” – a reference to the nuclear deal negotiating team – and his view of the world remains the same as it was when he was a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in the 1980s, he said.

Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh

Amir Nasirzadeh received the most support from MPs, with 281 votes out of 288. He was the chief of the Iranian air force from 2018 to 2021.

His role is crucial as Israel and Iran engage in belligerent rhetoric, threatening to attack one another. Iranian allies Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi militia groups and Yemen's Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks in the region since the war in Gaza erupted in October, striking both Israeli and US targets in the region.

Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni

Mr Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, will head the ministry that oversees the police and enforce the mandatory wearing of the veil by women. Protests engulfed the country in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police, who arrested her after wearing her hijab "inappropriately", they said. The demonstrations were violently crushed by security forces.

Mr Momeni was also the secretary general of the Drug Control Headquarters, which worked closely with the UN to combat trafficking in the country. The highest number of executions in Iran are related to drug offences, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warning this month of an "alarmingly high" number in a "short period of time".

Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib

Esmail Khatib remains in the position he has held since 2021 under Mr Raisi's government. Less than a week before Mr Haniyeh was killed, Mr Khatib said his greatest achievement as Intelligence Minister had been "dismantling Mossad's infiltration network" in Iran.

While the ministry remains separate from the IRGC's own internal intelligence network, the minister has been in charge at a time where the state's apparatus has been compromised several times.

Finance Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati

Abdolnaser Hemmati served as governor of Iran's Central Bank from 2018 to 2021 and has been described as a moderate and technocrat. He came third in the presidential race in 2021.

Sanctions have strangled the Iranian economy and guiding the country out of this crisis looks to be Mr Hemmati's main challenge. The US withheld access to $6 billion in frozen funds that Tehran gained in a prisoner swap. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry in December said it was accessing the money.

In addition, Mr Pezeshkian also selected Farzaneh Sadegh as Minister of Roads and Urban Development, becoming Iran's second female cabinet member. The President also kept Mohammad Eslami in his position as the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran. He was placed on a sanctions list by the US and EU in 2008 when he was deputy defence minister.