Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani has appointed reformist politician Eshaq Jahangiri as his first vice president, state media reported.
The 56-year-old has been the country's minister for industries and mines in the administration of ex-reformist president Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005.
Rouhani referred to Jahangiri's "competence and his successful track record" in different executive positions, expressing hope that he would fulfill his future duties in accordance with law and principles of "moderation," Xinhua reported Monday.
On Sunday, after Rouhani was sworn in, he presented the list of his cabinet lineup for the endorsement of the Majlis (parliament). Of the 18-member cabinet nominees, 11 are pro-reform or moderate figures and the rest independents or conservatives.
Among the proposed ministers, Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh will be the oil minister, and Iran's former permanent representative to the UN, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, will be the foreign minister.
The structure of the proposed administrative team of Rouhani, heavily weighed to the advantage of reform and change, received mixed responses from the Iranian media Monday.
In his inaugural speech in the Majlis Sunday, Rouhani vowed to deal earnestly with the country's social and economic problems and to interact "constructively" with the world to mend Iran's global image and to seek a solution to its controversial nuclear programme.
