Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has proposed former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as the country’s new foreign minister and also wants to appoint a woman as minister of roads and housing.

If approved, Farzaneh Sadegh would become Iran’s first female minister in more than a decade.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf read out the list of proposed ministers to the politicians on Sunday.

The heavily dominated chamber will have two weeks to review the qualifications and give a vote of confidence to the proposed ministers.

Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat, was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear accord with world powers in 2015 that put a cap on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

The president appointed General Aziz Nasirzadeh, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, as defense minister. He was the head of the Iranian Air Force from 2018-2021. This would be the first time a member of Iran’s air force heads the defense ministry.

Pezeshkian suggested Sadegh as Minister of Roads and Housing. The 53-year-old is currently a director in the department. She would become only the second female minister in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

However, it is unclear whether she will be approved. The hardline parliament is seeking more cultural and social restrictions on women based on its interpretations of Islamic Sharia law. Many politicians expressed their opposition when her name was read out by the Speaker during Sunday’s session.

The only former female minister approved by parliament since the revolution was in 2009, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a post for Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as health minister.

However, Iranian presidents have appointed women as vice presidents, a role not subject to parliamentary approval. Last week, Pezeshkian appointed Zahra Behrouz Azar as vice president in charge of women’s and family affairs.

The first female minister in Iran’s history was Farrokroo Parsa, who served as Minister of Education from 1968-1971. Revolutionary authorities executed her after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamists to power.

Pezeshkian proposed Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister. The ministry is working to enforce the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil on women.

In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for inappropriately wearing a hijab led to nationwide protests.

Pezeshkian wrote at the time that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family”.

In comments he has suggested he wants less enforcement of the hijab law, as well as better relations with the West and a return to the nuclear deal.

The president is likely to face opposition in enacting legislation supporting his stated agenda, as the chamber is dominated by hardline parties that primarily supported other candidates during the June-July presidential election.

The president appointed Mohsen Paknejad as oil minister. He was previously deputy oil minister.

Pezeshkian also suggested keeping current Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and current Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi.

He also appointed current Industry Minister Abbas Aliabadi as Energy Minister.

On Saturday, the president also named Mohammad Eslami head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program and one of several vice presidents.

They all held their posts under President Ebrahim Raisi, who died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain in a helicopter crash in May.