Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08RPODUBAI46
2008-08-12 14:22:00
SECRET
Iran RPO Dubai
Cable title:  

MAJLES APPROVES AHMADINEJAD'S NEW CABINET NOMINEES

Tags:  IR PGOV 
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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0046/01 2251422
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P R 121422Z AUG 08
FM RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0307
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0267
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0235
RUEHDIR/RPO DUBAI 0299
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000046 

SIPDIS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/12/2018
TAGS: IR PGOV
SUBJECT: MAJLES APPROVES AHMADINEJAD'S NEW CABINET NOMINEES

DUBAI 00000046 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Amy Madsen, Acting Director, Iran Regional
Presence Office, DoS.
REASON: 1.4 (d)
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000046

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR GAYLE, BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD
ISTANBUL FOR ODLUM, BAKU FOR MCCRENSKY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/12/2018
TAGS: IR PGOV
SUBJECT: MAJLES APPROVES AHMADINEJAD'S NEW CABINET NOMINEES

DUBAI 00000046 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Amy Madsen, Acting Director, Iran Regional
Presence Office, DoS.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1.(C) Summary: Following a contentious debate over the
qualifications of President Ahmadinejad's nominees for three
Cabinet posts, the Majles approved Shamseddin Hosseini as
Economy and Finance Minister, Hamid Behbehani as Roads and
Transport Minister, and Ali Kordan as Interior Minister.
Ahmadinejad has now made more Cabinet changes in one term that
any Iranian president since the revolution.

The President created some controversy by announcing prior to
the Majles debate that his three nominees had the approval of
the Supreme Leader, which may have influenced the votes of some
MPs. It is unclear whether Ahmadinejad actually had Khamenei's
support in this matter (an editorial in the conservative daily
Keyhan suggests otherwise),or perhaps gambled that he could
present the Supreme Leader with a fait accompli. The vote was
also read by some as a test of ability of the new Majles -- and
new Majles Speaker Larijani -- to stand up to the President. In
this instance, Ahmadinejad appears to have won the day. End
summary.

2.(U) On August 5, the Majles debated and voted on the three
nominees presented by President Ahmadinejad to fill the vacant
Cabinet posts of Ministers of Interior, Economy, and Roads and
Transport. The Iranian press described the president's
nominations as surprising, since Ahmadinejad was expected to
nominate the current caretakers of the three vacant ministries
-- which he did not. During his first term in office,
Ahmadinejad has replaced the ministers of Economy, Cooperatives,
Roads and Transport, Welfare and Social Security, Oil,
Industries and Mines, Education, and Interior, as well as the
head of the Management and Planning Organization (MPO) and the
Central Bank of Iran (CBI). Ahmadinejad has now made more
changes to his Cabinet in one term than any other president of
the Islamic Republic.

Many cabinet changes related to economy

--------------

3.(S) Many of Ahmadinejad's cabinet changes have been related to
the economic portfolio, and are likely intended to signal the
president's renewed focus on improving the Iranian economy in

advance of the 2009 presidential elections. Ahmadinejad placed
much of the blame for the failure of his economic policies on
the former Economy Minister, Davoud Danesh-Jafari, who he fired
in April. The appointment of the new Economy Minister comes
shortly after Ahmadinejad's announcement of his repackaged
economic plan. The new Minister of Economy, Shamseddin
Hosseini, is regarded as a moderate, well-versed in economics,
according to a Tehran-based economic analyst.

Tense debate over new Interior Minister

--------------

4.(S) Despite the eventual vote of confidence for all three
nominees, the debate over the Interior Minister candidate, Ali
Kordan, was very contentious. Kordan was reportedly one of
Ahmadinejad's candidates to replace his original Oil Minister,
Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, who resigned in August 2007. Kordan was
ultimately not nominated for the post of Oil Minister, but
became Deputy Oil Minister. According to one Iranian analyst,
Kordan is widely believed to be an Ahmadinejad ally. However,
Kordan also formerly served as deputy head of state broadcasting
under Majles Speaker Ali Larijani, and some reports suggest he
is a Larijani ally.

5.(C) The question of whether Kordan is more closely allied with
Ahmadinejad or Larijani could be important for next year's
presidential elections, since the Interior Ministry is
responsible for the voting process. Rumors abound that Kordan's
nomination was the result of an arranged compromise between
Ahmadinejad and influential traditional conservatives, possibly
including Expediency Council chair Rafsanjani, former Majles
speaker Nateq-Nuri, and current Majles speaker Larijani. Some
observers point to the eventual approval of all three nominees
as proof of the purported compromise.

6.(SBU) Despite the rumors of a bargain compromise, Kordan's
nomination faced intense criticism from a variety of
conservative MPs. Kordan was accused of financial corruption

DUBAI 00000046 002.2 OF 002


during his tenure at the state broadcasting agency. In
addition, some hardline conservatives -- including Ruhollah
Hosseinian, who claims to have been offered the Interior
Minister post himself, but turned it down -- questioned Kordan's
academic credentials, particularly his claim to have received an
honorary PhD from Oxford University. Conservative news website
Alef reportedly queried Oxford about the claim and on Aug 6
published the purported response from Oxford saying it has no
record of Kordan receiving a degree from the university. During
the Majles session, two prominent conservative MPs, Ahmad
Tavakkoli and Elias Naderan, requested the debate on Kordan's
credentials to be held in a closed session, but Majles Speaker
Larijani -- Kordan's former boss at the state broadcasting
agency -- denied the request. In the end, 169 out of 271 MPs
voted in favor of Kordan, but the unresolved questions about his
credentials may weaken his position.

Ahmadinejad using the Supreme Leader's name for his purposes?

-------------- --------------

7.(SBU) Also at issue was the President's invocation of the
Supreme Leader's name in his defense of his Cabinet nominees
before the Majles. Ahmadinejad announced to the Majles prior to
the debate that Khamenei had given his approval of all three
nominees, which may have affected the votes of a number of MPs.
The Supreme Leader generally attempts to stay above the
political fray in public, and Ahmadinejad's announcement of his
support for the nominees was unusual.

8.(C) That bit of political theater provoked a strong response
from the editorial page of the conservative daily Keyhan. The
paper's editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari -- who was
appointed by Khamenei -- accused Ahmadinejad of distorting and
contradicting the words of the Supreme Leader. Shariatmadari
wrote, "Why has he [Ahmadinejad] used the Supreme Leader to
achieve a political aim, let alone misquote him and distort his
statements?" It is unclear whether Ahmadinejad actually had
Khamenei's support in this matter (the Keyhan editorial suggests
otherwise),or perhaps gambled that he could present the Supreme
Leader with a fait accompli.

What does this mean for Larijani and the Majles?

-------------- ---

9.(C) In a 28 July editorial, moderate daily Kargozaran
characterized the nomination debate as a test of the ability of
the new 8th Majles -- under the leadership of Larijani -- to
fulfill its supervisory role over the executive, and in effect,
to stand up to the President. The previous Majles, led by
former Majles Speaker Haddad-Adel, was frequently criticized for
its inability to stand up to Ahmadinejad, who occasionally
bypassed the requirement of Majles approval on some government
actions.

10.(C) Comment: The rumors about the purported compromise
between Ahmadinejad and traditional conservatives (possibly
including Larijani) over Kordan's nomination make it difficult
to assess whether the vote of approval for Kordan was good or
bad for Larijani. Given the contentious debate over Kordan's
nomination, it was surprising however that the Majles under
Larijani's leadership approved Ahmadinejad's nominee for Economy
Minister without much debate, despite the widespread criticism
of Ahmadinejad's economic policies. The outcome of this
nomination debate suggests that Larijani may have a difficult
time marshaling the fractured conservatives in the 8th Majles,
particularly in its efforts to enforce accountability from the
Ahmadinejad government. Separately, Ahmadinejad's use of the
Supreme Leader's name to buttress his Cabinet nominations does
not seem to have met with any repercussions, apart from the
Keyhan editorial, and Ahmadinejad may feel emboldened to use
this tactic again to enact his policies and perhaps to influence
the 2009 presidential elections. On this occasion, Ahmadinejad
appears to have won the day.
MADSEN