Hassan Rouhani Appoints Three Women as Assistants and Deputies

The President of Iran has appointed Masoumeh Ebtekar as Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Laya Joneidi as Legal Deputy, and Shahindokht Molaverdi as his assistant for civil rights in separate decrees. Masoumeh Ebtekar was the head of the Environmental Protection Organization in the eleventh government, and Shahindokht Molaverdi was the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs. The new head of the Environmental Protection Organization has not yet been appointed. The dismissal of Ms. Molaverdi from her position as Vice President for Women and Family Affairs has led to protests from some social media users, who have called for her retention in this position through a common hashtag on Twitter. According to the state news agency IRNA, Laya Joneidi was the director of legislation and regulation at the Ministry of Science during Mr. Rouhani's first government. She is also an associate professor at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran and a lawyer, having worked in arbitration for domestic and international commercial disputes. Mr. Rouhani's appointment of two female deputies and one female assistant comes amid criticism from some political and civil activists regarding the lack of a female minister in the new government. Previously, 175 members of parliament had called for the appointment of a female minister in the new government. On Tuesday, Hassan Rouhani retained Eshaq Jahangiri as his first deputy. He also introduced his cabinet to the parliament on Tuesday but has yet to nominate a candidate for the Ministry of Science. Meanwhile, the first deputy president announced that Mr. Rouhani's proposed candidate for the Ministry of Science withdrew from the position at the 'last moments.' In Mr. Rouhani's list, eight ministers are set to be replaced by new individuals. Additionally, Behrouz Namati, spokesman for the parliamentary board, announced that the qualification review of Mr. Rouhani's proposed ministers will begin on August 15 and may take three to four days. In recent days, some parliament members have criticized several of the proposed ministers, including the ministers of interior, communications and information technology, and education. The appointment of governors and mayors in coordination with the conservative representatives of the ninth parliament, the cancellation of reformist speeches, and the non-issuance of the credentials of Minoo Khalighi from Isfahan are among the criticisms of reformists regarding Mr. Rahmani Fazli's performance. Opponents of Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the proposed minister of communications and information technology, claim he was previously the director of surveillance at the Ministry of Intelligence, but some of his supporters have stated that he left the Ministry of Intelligence in 2009. Hamid Reza Jalai Pour and Mohammad Ali Abtahi, reformist figures, have also supported him. His defenders also claim that he has been involved in disputes with the judiciary regarding the filtering of social media. Some human rights activists have stated that Alireza Avaei, the proposed minister of justice, played a role in the execution of political prisoners in Khuzestan province in 1988. He, along with more than 30 other officials of the Islamic Republic, was placed on a list by the European Union in October 2011 due to participation in human rights violations, illegal detention, failure to respect prisoners' rights, and an increase in executions. Previously, several human rights organizations had sent an open letter referring to Mostafa Pourmohammadi's role in the execution of political prisoners in 1988, asking Hassan Rouhani not to introduce him as the Minister of Justice in his new government. In this context, Rouhani's proposed ministers were introduced to the parliament on Tuesday. Molaverdi: I will not be the assistant in women's affairs. The changing battlefield of 'proxy wars'; war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph; the responsibility of opponents and the possibility of radicalization of Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis. 1300 hours of internet outages; Witkoff: a horrific massacre occurred during the protests in Iran.