Iranian Parliament Approves Rouhani’s Reformist Cabinet Reshuffle

The Iranian parliament has demonstrated reformist support for pragmatist leader President Hassan Rouhani by approving all three of his recent Cabinet minister nominees. Reza Salehi Amiri, Saeed Soltanifar, and Fakhredin Ahmadi Danesh-Ashtiani will soon fill the roles of ministries of Islamic guidance and culture, sport and youth affairs, and education, respectively. This vote of confidence comes at a time of intense political contestation between Rouhani and hardliners. Media reactions to this development have been contradictory, demonstrating the intensity of conflicting stances in Tehran.

At President Hassan Rouhani’s 2013 Presidential Confirmation, Ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left), Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (center), and President Rouhani (right).

Reformist newspaper Armanhas portrayed this victory for Rouhani as a result of reformist seats gained in February’s parliamentary elections. The paper went as far as to describe the vote as “the day when moderation and rationality triumphed over extremism.” In contrast, conservative outlets have avoided reporting on the vote of confidence and instead have focused on Rouhani’s controversial speech in support of the new members of the Cabinet, in which he stated, “If there is corruption, we should not exaggerate it.”

The resignation of three prior Cabinet ministers necessitated the new appointments. Though the administration announced that Ali Jannati, Ali Asghar Fani, and Mahmoud Goudarzi stepped down voluntarily, evidence suggests that Rouhani requested that they resign. The administration appears to have seen these more conservative leaders as damaging to public approval of the regime as a whole.

In the months preceding the appointments, a series of conservative government practices have triggered popular outcry against the regime. For example, the police and judiciary have collectively cancelled an estimated fifty public concerts around the country, even though the concerts had the required permits. In the same vein, the deeply conservative Friday Prayer leader, Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, recently called for a ban on concerts in the northeastern city of Mashhad, claiming that the city should be treated as a holy site for Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Shiite imam.

Rouhani’s Cabinet appointments appear to be a strategic response to public frustration with the regime and outcry against infringements on cultural freedoms. The new set of Cabinet ministers may encourage more liberal cultural policies. However, it is hard to predict whether such changes can ensure a Rouhani victory in the upcoming May 2017 elections, particularly given the many other issues that plague the administration.

At the heart of Rouhani’s concerns is Iran’s ailing economy. As the economy falters and public discontent and skepticism grows, some Iranians seem to be returning to their old allegiances with Khamenei and other conservatives. Although Ahmadinejad left office in 2009 with very low approval ratings, it appears that many Iranians now feel a sense of nostalgia for his presidency—and his monthly cash subsidies and smart cards for subsidized gas. Additionally, Iranians want to know why the nuclear deal of 2015 has yet to bring an end to all oppressive sanctions, and why European businesses have yet to flood into Tehran.

Though Rouhani is expected to seek re-election next year, conservative opposition threatens his seat, bolstered by a growing wave of frustration that Iran has lost international traction after agreeing to the nuclear deal that has failed to bring promised benefits to Iran’s economy. Nonetheless, February’s parliamentary victories in a traditionally conservative Parliament, combined with the recent successful Cabinet reshuffling, provides reason for hope in the Rouhani camp.