Iran condemns US mosque seizure

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Iran on Sunday denounced as ‘disgraceful’ U.S. moves to seize four mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim nonprofit organization.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the moves show that President Barack Obama’s slogan for change was deceitful and he was no different from his predecessor George W. Bush.

“Extension of sanctions and restrictions against Iran for another year by the American president and the blocking the accounts and assets of the Alavi foundation in America is a real disgrace,” he told parliament.

“After a year of empty speeches and slogans, the behaviour and conduct of this president in practice is no better than the actions of his predecessor,” Larijani added, in a speech broadcast on radio.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story Manhattan office tower.

 

Professional Shia Killer Arrests in Pakistan

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Quetta: Quetta Police say the assassin of martyrs Yousafi, Chairman Hazara Democratic Party, Syed Talib Agha , DSP Hassan Ali, a Hazara police officer, Chief Mine Inspector Eng. Ashraf Changezi, Advocate Wulayet, and many other Shias, who were martyred in the recent wave of target killings, have been arrested.

Hafiz Usman alias Abbas Muhammadshai is a high-profile member of Lashkar-e-Janghvi, the militant outfit that claimed responsibility for the attack on Shia Imam Bargah, Shia Police Cadets and many other secterian and ethnic attacks in Quetta. Police say Hafiz Usman has accepted responsibility for the murders of Hussain Ali Yousafi and all recent incidents of target killing. While presenting him in front of media, Hafiz Usman made “Victory” sign. Police also said it has seized the AK-47 used in the recent incidents of target killing of innocent Shias.

The consecutive target killing of Shias have claimed lives of over 300 innocent people since the beginning of 2009. Law enforcement agencies were totally failed to stop the target killing, which is still going on in Quetta. The recent dramatic arrest of a terrorist member of Lashkar-e-Janghvi seems a symbolic move by the concerned quarters. The terrorist group of Lashkar-e-Jangvi is not an underground outfit. Intelligence agencies know all whereabouts of its leadership and members, but have kept closed-eyes towards them.

Some Shia people beleive assassination of the professional and political leadership of Shias are carried out by “hidden black hands” with strong presence in the establishment. Arrest of one member of a militant organization is very dramatic. His “victory” sign shows he is assured of his fate. Last year in January, two terrorists of Lashkar-e-Jangvi, Hafiz Saifur Rehman and Shafiqur Rehman, responsible for attacks on Ashura Procession of 2004, Shia Imam Bargah and Shia Police Cadets, broke away from a high-profile Anti-Terrorist Force Jail in Quetta.

Troops martyr one more innocent youth in Pulwama

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Srinagar, November 16 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops, in their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred one innocent Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district, today.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the troops killed the youth in Kellar area of the district during a siege and search operation, which continued till last reports came in.

Two troopers of Indian army’s 9/Rajpuet regiment were killed in a clash with Mujahideen in Keran area of Kupwara district, today.

Meanwhile, personnel of Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) shot at and critically injured a 23-year-old civilian, Riyaz Ahmad Sheikh, at Trehgam market in Kupwara district. He was immediately taken to a hospital in Kupwara where the doctors referred him to a hospital in Srinagar for specialized treatment. After the incident a large number of people took to the streets to protest against Indian state terrorism.

Trehgam, nearly 110 km from Srinagar, is the birthplace of the prominent martyred liberation leader, Mohammad Maqbool Butt, who was hanged in India’s infamous Tihar Jail in 1984

CCTV footage of Peshawer bomb blast released

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PESHAWAR: The CCTV footage of a deadly suicide car bombing on a police checkpost in Pestakhara that killed 13 people and injured dozens has been released here on Sunday.

According to the footage, the suicide bomber was in an alto-model car packed with explosives which rammed into the checkpost when a policeman intercepted it minutes after it crossed the Ring Road.

The footage also shows a corolla car and a passenger-coach being destroyed in the blast.

Meanwhile, the city police have registered an FIR against the central ameer of the banned Laskhar-i-Islam group, Mangal Bagh and six of his accomplices Wahid, Taiyab, Syed Noor, Satana Gul, Fazal Ahmed and Saifur Khan.

SSP Operation Karim Khan told APP that security measures had been further stepped up in the provincial capital and vehicles were being checked closely at the checkposts.

He said that CCTV cameras had been installed at various sensitive places, adding that SDPOs and SHOs had been directed to remain vigilant and ensure

GB Poll massively rigged, allege MQM, PML-Q

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ISLAMABAD: The Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM), a coalition partner of the PPP at the Centre and in Sindh, has demanded fresh polling in nine stations of Gilgit-Baltistan-3 constituency, instead of four polling stations as announced by the election commission.

MQM’s parliamentary leader in National Assembly and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar said at a hurriedly-called news conference here on Sunday that his party would boycott the vote if its demand was not met.

He accused the PPP of ‘massively rigging’ the poll.

‘We want re-polling in nine polling stations of the GBLA-3 while the election commission has announced re-polling in only four of them,’ Mr Sattar said.

Similar rigging charges were levelled by MQM’s former ally PML-Q which accused the PPP of ‘breaking all previous records’ of vote fraud.

Addressing a news conference, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain alleged that the PPP had rigged elections in league with the PML-N.

The PML-Q also released a 17-point ‘fact sheet’, on irregularities and rigging.

The MQM leader asked President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to take notice of the allegations leveled by various political parties to restore confidence of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in the newly-announced system.

Mr Sattar was of the view that the system introduced by the government in Gilgit-Baltistan had become a ‘democracy-deficit system’.

He alleged that state machinery had been used by the PPP during the election and results were manipulated in some constituencies. However, he alleged irregularities in only three constituencies of Gilgit district and alleged that results had been changed at the last moment in Gilgit’s GBLA-3 constituency and MQM’s Hadi Hussain had been deprived of the seat.

By announcing re-polling in four polling stations, the MQM leader said, the election commission had admitted that rigging and irregularities had taken place in the constituency.

He urged the election commission to take action against people who were responsible for the fraud. He asked the election commission to disqualify the candidate who, he alleged, had ordered the snatching of ballot boxes from polling stations. Dr Sattar said his party did not make any electoral adjustment with any party prior to polling.

‘The PML-Q contacted us for a seat adjustment, but it was too late,’ he said. When asked if the MQM would become a partner in the new government in Gilgit-Baltistan, he said:

‘It is too early to say anything in this regard. The government first needs to clean the political atmosphere in the area.’

Chaudhry Shujaat termed his party’s performance in the GB polls satisfactory. He, however, made it clear that the post-vote scenario was not good in the area and the government needed to take some steps to normalise the situation.

He said his party believed that GB was as important as the AJK and, therefore, its government should reflect a national consensus and no party should try to grab absolute power. He claimed that not a single leader of his party was among beneficiaries of the NRO

Obama writes to Zardari, demands step-up in offensive

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WASHINGTON: The New York Times reported on Sunday that the Obama administration was leaning on Pakistan to step up its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Citing anonymous sources, the Times reported that Gen. James L. Jones, Obama’s national security adviser, was sent to Islamabad with a letter for Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari.

‘His (President Obama’s) message, officials said, was that the new American strategy would work only if Pakistan broadened its fight beyond the militants attacking its cities and security forces and went after the groups that use havens in Pakistan for plotting and carrying out attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, as well as support networks for Al Qaeda,’ the report said.

In the letter, the newspaper reported, Obama said he expected Pakistan to do more to fight the extremists threatening Pakistan and Afghanistan.

‘General Jones also delivered a letter from Mr. Obama to Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, in which Mr. Obama said he expected Mr. Zardari to rally the nation’s political and national security institutions in a united campaign against extremists threatening Pakistan and Afghanistan, said an official briefed on the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential,’ the NYT report said.

Obama is expected to announce some troop increases in Afghanistan along with clearer limitations on US goals for the war after he returns from Asia late this week. The announcement is expected either just before or just after the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 26. The post-holiday timing appears more likely, despite continued criticism from the political right that Obama is taking too long to announce his next move.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in New Delhi Monday for talks on a stalled trans-national gas pipeline

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NEW DELHI: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in New Delhi Monday for talks on a stalled trans-national gas pipeline and a possible Indian prime ministerial visit to Iran, officials said.

Mottaki will meet India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari, Premier Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on Monday during a two-day visit, an Indian foreign ministry statement said.

Talks with Indian leaders will cover ‘bilateral, regional and international issues,’ an Iranian embassy official said without elaborating.

An Indian official said talks between Krishna and Mottaki would cover the much-delayed 7.5-billion-dollar gas pipeline project, that was first mooted in 1994.

The project, if completed, would carry gas from Iran to Pakistan and then India.

But India, which has a tense and occasionally openly hostile relationship with Pakistan, withdrew last year from the talks because of repeated disputes about prices and transit fees.

The Indian official declined to comment on recent domestic news reports that Mottaki could be carrying new proposals to kickstart the pipeline talks, but added both sides might discuss a visit by Singh to Tehran.

Mottaki’s visit here comes as the UN’s atomic watchdog is to unveil Monday its latest report on Iran’s disputed nuclear drive with pressure mounting on Tehran to respond to a UN-brokered offer to end the standoff.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report will take stock of Iran’s uranium enrichment activities in spite of international sanctions and detail findings from an October visit to a previously secret atomic site at Qom.

The West suspects Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon under cover of its civilian nuclear energy programme. Iran vehemently denies the claims while Russia has said there is no evidence to support the accusations.

New Delhi, which twice voted against Tehran at meetings of the IAEA board, has said it is against the use of military force against Iran but added it is against the emergence of another nuclear power in its neighbourhood

Pakistan’s sugar crisis continues

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As the crisis of the availability of sugar continues across the country, the city district government Karachi (CDGK) has made arrangements for the sale of sugar at Rs 40 a kilogram over the next four to five days.
A woman waits for family members after collecting sugar at government subsidised prices at a bazaar in Lahore on November 15, 2009. —

Peshawar blast kills 4

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PESHAWAR: At least four people have been killed and 25 others injured in a powerful explosion that occurred in Peshawar’s outskirts of Badhbeer on Kohat Road near police station, Geo News reported on Monday morning.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Peshawar Sahibzada Anis also confirmed 4 killings in the blast, adding the blast was so powerful that the nearby mosque collapsed.

He continued that the blast occurred at 0745am, adding it is feared that some people may be trapped under the rubble.

The state of emergency has been declared in the local hospitals.

The police and relief workers before long arrived on the blast site and kick-started the relief action. There are some children and a woman among the injured.

Police cordoned off the blast site soon after the blast.

According to Geo News correspondent, the police have confirmed that blast was a suicide attack, as a car was used in the blast.

According to sources, the suicide bomber was taking his explosive-laden car to some sensitive place; however, he was signaled to pull over. But, the suicide bomber on being stopped, blew him up, killing three people.

According to Geo News correspondent, at least seven injured have been brought to Lady Reading Hospital.

Iraqi civilians who were detained by British troops during the U.S.-led war have leveled some 33 allegations of rape and abuse against male and female soldiers, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Saturday. Iraqi civilians who were detained by British troops during the U.S.-led war have leveled some 33 allegations of rape and abuse against male and female soldiers, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Saturday. The allegations come in the wake of the British withdrawal from Iraq this year. One man says he was raped by two British soldiers while another claims he was sexually humiliated by both male and female personnel. Others allege they were stripped naked and photographed in the same style as the notorious pictures at Abu Ghraib, where abuses of prisoners by U.S. troops helped fuel anti-American sentiment. British soldiers have faced a series of claims that they mistreated Iraqi civilians in southern Iraq during six years of combat operations. Last year, Britain settled a legal case involving the death of one Iraqi civilian, and the abuse of nine others, paying out nearly 3 million pounds in compensation. A public inquiry is still under way into the death of hotel worker Baha Mousa. He died in the custody of British troops following a raid on his hotel in the southern Iraq city of Basra in 2003 and suffered 93 separate injuries. British Cpl. Donald Payne pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating Iraqi civilians in Britain's first war crimes conviction. "Given the history of the UK's involvement in the development of these techniques alongside the US, it is deeply concerning that there appears to be strong similarities between instances of the use of sexual humiliation," Phil Shiner, the lawyer representing the Iraqis who made the claims, said in a letter to the Ministry of Defense. He said some Iraqis are coming forward now since the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq this year. The Ministry of Defense said the allegations were being taken seriously. "Over 120,000 British troops have served in Iraq and the vast majority have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behavior, displaying integrity and selfless commitment," the ministry said in a statement. "There have been instances when individuals have behaved badly but only a tiny number have been shown to have fallen short of our high standards. Allegations of this nature are taken very seriously but must not be taken as fact. Formal investigations must be allowed to take their course." Armed forces minister Bill Rammell said any new claims of mistreatment will be investigated. In one of the most serious allegations, a 16-year-old boy claimed that he was among a group of Iraqis in May 2003 who were taken to the Shatt-al-Arab British camp to help fill sandbags. In a statement reported by The Independent newspaper, he alleged when he entered a room to get more sandbags he saw two British male soldiers engaged in oral sex. When he tried to leave, he alleges the men started to beat and kick him. When he fell to the floor, he claims one of the men held a blade to his neck while the other soldier stripped him naked. He claims the two British soldiers, one after the other, raped him. In another claim, a 24-year-old Iraqi said he was playing football with friends in April 2007 when he was approached by British soldiers in vehicles and taken to a British base with another youth. When he arrived at the camp, he was allegedly surrounded by six to eight soldiers who ordered two of the young men to pick fights with one another. He alleges that the soldiers then stood on top of them and shouted and laughed. Another 35-year-old carpenter said he was arrested in April 2006 and taken to the British camp at Shaaibah where he alleges he was subjected to sexual abuse and humiliation by both male and female soldiers. He alleged soldiers used to watch pornographic films and would play loud music when he tried to pray. He also alleged that female soldiers exposed themselves or taunted him sexually. He alleged a soldier in the observation tower used to point the laser spot of his gun at his penis when he was in the toilet. At the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, female guards and interrogators were documented as using aggressive and sexually charged techniques with the detainees, most of whom were Muslim. It was unclear when results of the investigation would be released.

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An agreement was signed between the American and Yemen armies which officially made America a part of the war in the Saada province.
An agreement was signed between the American and Yemen armies which officially made America a part of the war in the Saada province.

Brigadier General Jeffrey Smith announced that joint missions will be conducted. After he signed the document, he expressed hope that this will help put an end to the terrorism in Yemen.

Major General Ahmed Ali al-Ashwal, the Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Armed Forces, announced that this document was singed last Tuesday after two days of talks.

According to this document, America will provide information to Yemen and train the Yemeni army to fight against terrorism in Saana. The American army will also aid in the attacks against the Al-Houthi Movement.

Fresh Reports of UK Iraq Abuse

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Iraqi civilians who were detained by British troops during the U.S.-led war have leveled some 33 allegations of rape and abuse against male and female soldiers, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
Iraqi civilians who were detained by British troops during the U.S.-led war have leveled some 33 allegations of rape and abuse against male and female soldiers, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
The allegations come in the wake of the British withdrawal from Iraq this year.
One man says he was raped by two British soldiers while another claims he was sexually humiliated by both male and female personnel. Others allege they were stripped naked and photographed in the same style as the notorious pictures at Abu Ghraib, where abuses of prisoners by U.S. troops helped fuel anti-American sentiment.
British soldiers have faced a series of claims that they mistreated Iraqi civilians in southern Iraq during six years of combat operations. Last year, Britain settled a legal case involving the death of one Iraqi civilian, and the abuse of nine others, paying out nearly 3 million pounds in compensation.
A public inquiry is still under way into the death of hotel worker Baha Mousa. He died in the custody of British troops following a raid on his hotel in the southern Iraq city of Basra in 2003 and suffered 93 separate injuries. British Cpl. Donald Payne pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating Iraqi civilians in Britain’s first war crimes conviction.
“Given the history of the UK’s involvement in the development of these techniques alongside the US, it is deeply concerning that there appears to be strong similarities between instances of the use of sexual humiliation,” Phil Shiner, the lawyer representing the Iraqis who made the claims, said in a letter to the Ministry of Defense. He said some Iraqis are coming forward now since the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq this year.
The Ministry of Defense said the allegations were being taken seriously.
“Over 120,000 British troops have served in Iraq and the vast majority have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behavior, displaying integrity and selfless commitment,” the ministry said in a statement. “There have been instances when individuals have behaved badly but only a tiny number have been shown to have fallen short of our high standards. Allegations of this nature are taken very seriously but must not be taken as fact. Formal investigations must be allowed to take their course.”
Armed forces minister Bill Rammell said any new claims of mistreatment will be investigated.
In one of the most serious allegations, a 16-year-old boy claimed that he was among a group of Iraqis in May 2003 who were taken to the Shatt-al-Arab British camp to help fill sandbags. In a statement reported by The Independent newspaper, he alleged when he entered a room to get more sandbags he saw two British male soldiers engaged in oral sex. When he tried to leave, he alleges the men started to beat and kick him. When he fell to the floor, he claims one of the men held a blade to his neck while the other soldier stripped him naked. He claims the two British soldiers, one after the other, raped him.
In another claim, a 24-year-old Iraqi said he was playing football with friends in April 2007 when he was approached by British soldiers in vehicles and taken to a British base with another youth. When he arrived at the camp, he was allegedly surrounded by six to eight soldiers who ordered two of the young men to pick fights with one another. He alleges that the soldiers then stood on top of them and shouted and laughed.
Another 35-year-old carpenter said he was arrested in April 2006 and taken to the British camp at Shaaibah where he alleges he was subjected to sexual abuse and humiliation by both male and female soldiers.
He alleged soldiers used to watch pornographic films and would play loud music when he tried to pray. He also alleged that female soldiers exposed themselves or taunted him sexually. He alleged a soldier in the observation tower used to point the laser spot of his gun at his penis when he was in the toilet.
At the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, female guards and interrogators were documented as using aggressive and sexually charged techniques with the detainees, most of whom were Muslim.
It was unclear when results of the investigation would be released.

Allameh Tabatabaei commemorated

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Seminar themed ‘Shining Sun’ was held here on Sunday as part of the programs to commemorate the death anniversary of Allameh Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Tabatabaei, a prominent Iranian scholar.
The event hosted by Khajeh Nasireddin Tousi University was attended by the students, professors and Qur’an researchers.

After awarding top Qur’an servants, Abufazl Bahrampour delivered a speech on the personality of Allameh Tabatabaei and Qur’an.

Tabatabaei (1892-1981) was one of the most prominent thinkers of Islamic philosophy. He is famous for Tafsir al-Mizan, the Qur’anic exegesis.

Born in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan province, Tabatabaei was a philosopher, prolific writer, and an inspiring teacher to his students who devoted much of his life to non-political Islamic studies.

It was in Najaf, Iraq, where Tabatabaei developed his major contributions in the fields of Tafsir (interpretation), philosophy, and history of the Shi’a faith. In philosophy the most important of his works is ‘The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism’, which has been published in five volumes with explanatory notes and the commentary of Morteza Motahhari, a student of him.

His other major philosophical work is a voluminous commentary of Asf?r al-Arba’eh, the magnum opus of Mulla Sadra who was the last of the great Persian (Iranian) Muslim thinkers of the medieval age.

Several treatises on the doctrines and history of Shi’ism have remained from him as well. One of these comprises his clarifications and expositions about Shi’a faith in reply to the questions posed by the famous French orientalist Henry Corbin.

Allameh Tabatabaei was also a poet. He composed his poetry mainly in Persian, but occasionally in Arabic as well.

The number of his books stands at 44 , three of which are collections of his articles on various aspects of Islam and Qur’an.

Iran– 250 MPs deprecate killing of Yemeni Muslims

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A number of 250 lawmakers issued a statement on Sunday denouncing the brutal massacre of Muslims in Yemen.

“We as the representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) and the signers of this statement condemn the cruel killing of Muslims in Yemen and (we) want all sympathetic officials in the Islamic world as well as the Islamic groupings and organizations, particularly the Organization of Islamic Conference, to utilize all their potential to stop this tragedy and put an end to the killings,” part of the statement said.

The lawmakers said at a time that the Zionist regime, under the auspices of some powers like the U.S., is explicitly denying Palestinians’ rights, Muslims should defend the oppressed Islamic nations.

And what is more “shocking and reprehensible” is the cruel attacks against Muslims in Yemen, they added.

Killing Yemeni people by Saudi Arabian fighter jets is only benefiting Islam’s enemies, the lawmakers insisted.

The Yemeni army has launched attacks on its Shia population for many years.

Obama, Medvedev press Iran on its nuclear program

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U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday time was running out for diplomacy in a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev warned Tehran could face new sanctions if there is no progress in nuclear talks.

“Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran appears to have been unable to say yes to what everyone acknowledges is a creative and constructive approach,” Obama said after talks with Medvedev on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Singapore.

“We are running out of time with respect to that approach,” Reuters quoted Obama as saying

Medvedev also said, “We are prepared to work further” to ensure Iran”s nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

“In case we fail, the other options remain on the table, in order to move the process in a different direction,” AFP quoted the Russian leader as saying.

According to a draft deal drawn up by the IAEA, a large consignment of Iran’s enriched uranium would be shipped out of the country for processing into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent for the Tehran reactor. However, many Iranian officials, including parliamentarians, believe that that Iran should buy the fuel for the reactor without sending its own low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad.

Iran has called for more talks.

A senior adviser to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said no official response to the proposal had been announced.

“We are waiting to see how much sincerity the Western countries have in their pledges,” said Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said an end-of-year deadline for Iran remained.

Russian officials such as foreign minister Sergei Lavrov have said Washington was trying to push Moscow into a position of publicly threatening the imposition of sanctions soon if Iran did not play ball.

Iran says it is enriching uranium only for power plant fuel, not for nuclear warheads.

The IAEA is consulting on possible compromises to save the deal, including Iran placing its LEU under escrow in a friendly third country, like Turkey, pending delivery of reactor fuel. Iran and Turkey discussed the idea in talks this month.

Iran’s presidential adviser Samareh-Hashemi said regarding Turkey’s role: “Turkey is also on the cards but they have not come to a firm agreement or decision to act accordingly.”

Three ministers approved, new cabinet now complete

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The Majlis has approved the qualifications of three new ministers.

In a session on Sunday, the Iranian parliament approved the qualifications of the nominees for the posts of education minister, welfare minister, and energy minister.

Hamidreza Hajbabaii, the nominee for the post of education minister, received 217 votes in favor of his approval, 33 voted against approving him, and there were 13 abstentions.

Majid Namjou, the nominee for the post of energy minister, received 210 votes in favor of his approval, 36 voted against approving him, and there were 19 abstentions.

Sadeq Mahsouli, the nominee for the post of welfare minister, received 149 votes in favor of his approval, 95 voted against approving him, and there were 21 abstentions.

Hajbabaii holds a Ph.D. in theology and was elected to parliament four times.

Majid Namjou has a B.S. in civil engineering and was formerly the managing director of the Sarallah Construction Organization.

Mahsouli has a B.A. in business administration and served as interior minister during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first term in office.

In September, after five days of deliberations, the parliament approved the qualifications of 18 ministerial nominees and rejected three nominees. With the approval of the three new ministers, the new cabinet is now complete.