A top Iranian lawmaker says Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
played a role in parliament's approval Thursday of nominees for
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Cabinet.
Deputy speaker
Mohammad Reza Bahonar said Friday the supreme leader had privately
urged lawmakers to approve the nominees. Bahonar says at least eight of
the nominees may have been rejected if Mr. Khamenei had not
intervened.
Parliament approved 18 nominees put forward by
President Ahmadinejad for his 21-member Cabinet, including Ahmad
Vahidi, a defense minister, accused of involvement in a 1994 bombing in
Argentina.
Lawmakers also approved Iran's first female Cabinet member Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mr.
Ahmadinejad was re-elected in a controversial vote in June. Government
opponents say the election was fraudulent, and it set off days of
street demonstrations.
Thousands of Iranians were arrested for protesting the outcome of the election.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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