Iran's Salehi receives vote of confidence as FM

Iran's Parliament (Majlis) has given a vote of confidence to Ali Akbar Salehi, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's candidate for the post of minister of foreign affairs.

Out of 243 lawmakers who attended the session, a total of 241 deputies cast their votes. Salehi received a vote of confidence from 146 Iranian lawmakers while 60 were against him and 35 abstained.

In a letter to Majlis on January 23, President Ahmadinejad nominated caretaker Foreign Minister Salehi as Iran's foreign minister.

In mid-December, the Iranian chief executive dismissed former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and appointed the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran as the acting foreign minister.

On December 18, Salehi was officially inaugurated as the country's caretaker Foreign Minister.

This is the first reshuffle in President Ahmadinejad's second term in office, which began in 2009. The Iranian chief executive replaced 12 of his cabinet ministers during his first tenure from 2005 to 2009.


/Trend/