TEHRAN -- The Iranian parliament on Tuesday did not endorse President Ebrahim Raisi choice for minister of cooperatives, labor and social security.
A total of 136 MPs voted for Muhammad Hadi Zahedi Vafa against 125 lawmakers who opposed him. Nine MPs abstentions and two votes were dismissed.
Zahedi Vafa, an economist educated in Canada, have taken over as caretaker labor minister in early July after a former minister resigned under pressure from pensioners and government authorities.
The portfolio is one of the largest ministries of the Iranian government that controls financial holdings and economic institutions. It was established in 2011 with the merger of three smaller ministries.
Before the voting, President Raisi said Iran has managed to take the path of progress despite all the threats and sanctions, noting that the country’s forward movement has infuriated the enemy.
“We are indifferent to all the sanctions and obstacles that the enemy has created and we are making efforts to remove and neutralize the sanctions in a fair and dignified manner,” he said.
He said the enemy knows well that its so-called maximum pressure policy against Iran has failed miserably, saying, “The enemy officially admits that the sanctions have failed to impact the Iranian nation…The enemy is angry at our progress.”
Raisi hailed the vigilance of the Iranian people in the face of the enemy’s plots during recent foreign-backed riots across the country, which erupted following the death of a young Iranian woman in a hospital days after collapsing at a police station in the capital Tehran.
He said the presence of millions of Iranians in the scene in support of the country’s values and their expression of hatred towards the rioters foiled the enemy’s conspiracies.
He also hailed the wise guidance and analysis of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei regarding the issue, saying that as mentioned by the Leader, the enemy seeks to hinder Iran’s progress.