Iran: Rohani forms cabinet, appoints female VP

[azurnoir]

Source: Ynet

Iran's President Hassan Rohani has appointed Dr. Elham Aminzadeh, a law and public policy professor at Teheran University, as his Vice-President for Legal Affairs. If confirmed she would be the first woman to hold the post.

Rohani said on Monday he had chosen a cabinet to overcome Iran's economic crisis and diplomatic isolation as parliament began debating whether to approve his proposed set of ministers.

A relatively moderate, mid-ranking Shiite cleric, Rohani took office on August 3 after scoring a landslide in the June 14 presidential election over more conservative rivals.

In a decree, Fras news agency reported, Rohani said that Dr. Aminzadeh's scientific competence and judicial qualifications as well as legislative experience and moral merits were the reasons for her appointment as the vice-president for legal affairs.



Read more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4416942,00.html

[MADem]

2. He's definitely playing ... or should I say, the Supreme Leader is letting him

play ... the "reformer" card.

Keep in mind the Constitution prohibits a member of the female sex from becoming President of the Islamic Republic, in case the "Oh, they're not so regressive" feeling hits!

The bright spot is, these kinds of signals are not just for internal consumption, they also resonate abroad.

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. Constitutions can be changed . . .

.
.
.

CC

[MADem]

6. Yes, they can. That particular one was was changed in 79. nt

[ronnie624]

8. Yes, immediately after the CIA was ejected.

Clearly, US foreign policy played the biggest role in the development of Iran's political extremism. Hopefully, our meddling won't fuck things up this time, despite the decades-long US/British terrorist war there.

[MADem]

9. They went in the wrong direction--from full enfranchisement for women, to something that makes them

"less than."

This woman is not the nation's vice president. She is a cabinet official, similar to an attorney general or a legal adviser, and she isn't in the line of succession.

The person that we would regard as the equivalent of "vice president" is this guy:

Hasan Rohani named Eshaq Jahangiri, a former industry and mines minister, as First Vice President, the broadcast said. Jahangiri is a close ally of former reformist president Mohammed Khatami, who is disliked by hard-liners.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130806176116

Of course, Rohani does not have much authority in his position. He is overseen by the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council. If they don't like what he is doing, they will pull back on his reins.

He doesn't even have control over the military or the national budget.

Most Iranians were born AFTER the Revolution, you know. The young people do not look at their situation as a contrast to the days of Shah; to them, that's ancient history. They look at their lot through the computer screen, when they can get "out" and through the censorship. What is out there in the Big Wide World is what drives their curiosity, their interest, their motivation.

[ronnie624]

10. The young Iranians who are well read,

are probably aware of the British/US history in their region of the world, and understand what motivates their activities there (Winston Churchill, charged with converting the British fleet from coal to oil, called Persian oil a gift from fairyland). No matter how curious they are, it is unlikely they would support the current US attempts at coercing them into submission.

[MADem]

11. They like Americans, and they like American goods, music and culture.

Many have relatives who left when they could, who come back on the odd occasion from London, NY, Texas, Oklahoma, or Teherangeles.


Unlike a lot of people here on DU, they dare to hope for better days ahead.

[ronnie624]

12. I've seen the polls

indicating admiration for American culture among young Iranians. I'm well aware of it. I would like to see it encouraged and exploited in a good way. It's wrong to try to change Iran through intimidation, coercion, violence and other methods that violate international law.

Your messages are often loaded with curious assumptions about other posters.

[MADem]

13. If the shoe doesn't fit you, don't cram it on your tootsie.

Many posters on DU, who have never spent a day in Iran, never mind weeks, months or years, do enjoy telling people--and me, specifically-- how Persians feel based on some article they read by someone who also has never spent a day in Iran. It's the oddest thing.

[ronnie624]

14. Few people, anywhere on earth,

want a self-serving foreign power intervening in their country, especially by means of economic coercion and threats of violence, and that includes Iranians, your appeals to your own 'authority' not withstanding.

[MADem]

25. I have to wonder why you feel a need to parrot John McCain's "bomb Iran" wishes.

I sometimes wonder if people HOPE for a war with Iran, so they have something to complain about.

No one is invading Iran. All you have to do is go there, once, and it will become apparent why. It is a hostile landscape, mountains and desert, full of people with a strong, deep sense of national pride (distinct from their irritation over the present regime) and a clear sense of their long (to include their pre-Islamic) history. They are not Arabs, their culture is unique. They have a very unique POV in the region and it does set them apart--as does their following of shi'a tenets.

You won't see "Forty Seconds Over Tokyo" and craters in the street. If anything gets taken out, it will be something to do with nuclear weapons development, the event will be surgical and on a military base, or delivered by moterbike to a car, and the Israelis will do it.

As for sanctions, Rohani (with permission of the Guardians) isn't offering up sweeter words because they aren't working.

[ronnie624]

31. Your post is random ramblings.

Some of it seems rather unbalanced.

The United States intervenes in the Middle East, because it wishes to control the energy reserves there, for the purpose of acquiring global strategic and economic power, just like the British Empire before it, not to free the Iranian people from tyranny. In reality, US/British intervention is directly responsible for the subsequent rise of political extremism in Iran.

Covert terrorist wars are not just a bad idea because they always lead to 'blowback' and other unintended consequences, they're also violations of international law, and thereby, violations of our own laws as well.

[Mosby]

33. how much money does the US make from Persian gulf and ME oil?

none.

Your old "imperialism/intervention" argument is silly, just like your claim that the Iranian revolution is our fault.

[ronnie624]

35. Controlling major oil reserves offers tremendous strategic advantage,

thus power over perceived enemies.

[MADem]

34. I don't think you are coming at this topic with much actual

knowledge of what life is like in Iran.

I come to this conclusion after reading your remarks.

[ronnie624]

36. I was speaking more to the moral implications

of forcefully intervening in other countries for self-serving reasons. I don't need to have detailed information about Iranian society in order to draw conclusions about whether it is right or wrong to violate Iranian sovereignty so we can control Middle Eastern oil.

[MADem]

37. I don't see USA loading up the wagons and moving out, either.

Do you want that to happen? If we were so eagerly intent on "forcefully intervening" you'd think someone would tell Chuck Hagel to stop drawing down the military, now, wouldn't you?

You're constructing a strawman and then getting outraged about it.

Knock yourself out.

[Ash_F]

19. Your unmitigated cynicism is always refreshing.

Oh wait, did I say refreshing? Hmmm.. I'll get back to you on that.

[MADem]

27. You have a nice day, too....and pardon my nuance, it's a bit complicated when broad brush is easier

to digest, I suppose.

[Ash_F]

32. Nuance? I don't know about that.

Sounds like a steady tune to me.

[Harmony Blue]

24. It is possible that the Supreme Leader's point of view as he has grown older

has changed? It happens to all of us as we gain wisdom. Maybe you are right that this is a craven political ploy but why so much resistance to other possibilities?

[MADem]

26. The Supreme Leader is playing Bread and Circuses as much as he can.

He's not stupid--he knows what people want, so he doles it out to them to take the pressure off other issues, like a stagnant economy. The Guardians have zero intention of losing their grip on power. Everyone on the ballot at the last election was hand vetted by them. Hundreds of candidates--real reformers, some of them--also wanted to run, but they were not allowed onto the ballot. The Guardians limit the amount of political 'movement' that is permitted.

Picture a country where Catholic or Episcopalian priests, or Baptist ministers, ran everything--they had all the political power, they networked, they made the decisions that affected everyone's daily life--and they were the final 'authority.' No arguments--and their really loyal little churchgoers acted as their eyes and ears at the neighborhood level, as "enforcers."

It's kind of irritating, because I think the country would be much more progressive if only the ulema would back off and let nature take its course.

[Soylent Brice]

3. whether it's for show or not

the fact remains that Iran has a female VP before we do, meanwhile we make a game where you get to slap Hillary Clinton.

we look like ass clowns, and rightly so.

[MADem]

7. It's not a "VP" like our VP. It's "a" VP for Legal Affairs--closer to an Attorney General.

We've had a female AG, FWIW.

This "VP" cannot become President, even if she wanted to run for the job.

And we don't "look like ass clowns" because this person isn't in the executive line of succession.

It helps to read the article.

[leftynyc]

15. Why even bother explaining

Many here are simply determined to make the US the boogieman in comparison to every other country on the planet. They're living in their fantasyland and nobody is going to tell them different.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge on the subject. Are we just going to have to wait for the hardliners to die? While I'm very optimistic about the youth in Iran, it'll be a while before they have any power.

[Soylent Brice]

17. thanks for telling me how i feel, what i know,

and what I think,...
person I've never talked to, or has ever read anything I've ever written.

[leftynyc]

18. Blah blah blah

You already proved in your post that you're ignorant of the situation and haven't bothered to thank the person who set you straight. It's all the same shit, day after day.

[Soylent Brice]

20. lol

You clearly missed the part where your divisive and uninformed comment lumped me in with a group of DUers, when in fact you have no idea who I even am, or where I stand on anything.

But don't let me stop you. Please, go on. Tell me more about me.

[leftynyc]

22. Yawn - you bore me

Go find someone else to play with.

[Soylent Brice]

29. so first you tell me what i mean when i

say something. then you tell me what to do.

you are charming, aren't you...
nice to meet you too. my name is Brice.

[MADem]

23. The people are pushing the ulema to the left, but it is a painfully slow process.

Every one is leaping for joy over here because this guy is a "moderate," but he is a "Supreme Leader approved" moderate. No one gets on the ballot to even run without the approval of the Guardians. And the Guardians keep the President on a very short leash. He can't do much without their approval.

Whenever the Guardians want to crack down on the people, they deploy the baseej to quite literally run around cracking heads for "un-Islamic" conduct, like showing too much hair, wearing a too-tight or too-short manteau, holding hands with a non-relative or some other stupid "offense."

[Soylent Brice]

21. thanks for the info

I was merely pointing out the irony surrounding recent events. I'm not exactly a fan of violence against women, so when I see one of the biggest offenders such as Iran appoint a woman to a high level position, around the same time we here in the states are making games where you can slap a woman, I find that to be ridiculous and offensive.

And we do look like ass clowns. All countries do, in their own special way.


No ill will here, I get your point, though I feel mine missed its mark somehow.

[MADem]

28. A few nutjobs who make a mean game about Hillary Clinton aren't our government.

It's important to keep this foremost in our minds.

Someone in USA also made a game about hitting Bush with a shoe. It got a great reception here. Remember this?

http://www.sockandawe.com/

It's silly to say "Oh, the Persians are putting women in the CABINET (not really the Vice Presidency) while we Americans are making mean games about Hillary!" It's not "We, The People" doing that, it's a few partisan assholes, who happen to also be tone deaf about issues like violence against women.

Our government does have women in the cabinet--we have for a long time, now--and our government had nothing to do with those stupid games.

No ill will here, either. I just get a bit exasperated at times. It's false equivalency, it irritates. Making those kinds of comparisons, too, also paper over a lot that's wrong in Iran. They''ve got the same "rich get richer, poor get poorer" problems that many other places are enduring, and the divide is getting worse, not better--that's always a recipe for disaster if not corrected.

[Soylent Brice]

30. again, not trying be a shit stirrer

and I'm not ignorant if the position/situation.
just posting my thoughts/opinions like everyone else.

the comment and reaction from the other poster is just a perfect example why I mostly just lurk anymore.

everyone is free to jump to conclusions all they like. it might serve some well to try engaging in a discussion, as you have, before making assumptions and degenerating into pettiness.

but that's okay. they clearly needed a human pinata, for whatever reason, so meh.

thank you for your insight.

[Overseas]

4. K&R. Glad to hear it.

[kelliekat44]

16. Now, for sure we have to bomb Iran. Women are getting too much power there. nt