President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Sunday the appointment of at least two women in his new cabinet--the first of their kind in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Speaking on state TV on Sunday, he announced Fatima Ajerloo as his choice for the Welfare and Social Security portfolio and Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi as Health Minister, IRIB reported.
Ahmadinejad, who was re-elected in a bitterly disputed election in June, said he would soon announce the name of another woman for a ministerial position.
He named Ali-Akbar Mehrabian for the Ministry of Industries and Mines, Shamseddin Hosseini for the Economy, Heidar Moslehi for Intelligence and Mohammad Abbasi for the Ministry of Cooperatives.
The president, who must present his cabinet to Parliament by August 19 for a vote of confidence, said he would address the nation on TV on Wednesday to inform them about the other ministerial choices and why he had picked them.
Ahmadinejad described the section of ministers a complicated and hard task. “For over one month, me and my colleagues have been meeting experts to pick the best and the most honest for the job.“
The new cabinet will be selected on the basis of expertise, efficiency and coordination with others, he said and added that there will be some more young people and other women in the cabinet.
Ahmadinejad pointed to the post-election developments, saying the conditions have changed ever since and the new cabinet must be able to deal with the new situation. He did not elaborate.
He appreciated the services of the outgoing cabinet and stated “The change in cabinet does not mean that the previous officials lacked the necessary effort. It is because new conditions demand a new team.“
Ahmadinejad was sworn in on August 5 for a second four-year term after massive opposition to his June election victory.
Lawmakers have warned him that his ministers must be “experienced“ and urged him to cooperate if his lineup is to be approved during a confidence vote in Parliament.
Ahmadinejad was criticized during his first tenure for regularly reshuffling the cabinet, sacking 10 ministers and two central bank chiefs and retaining inexperienced hands in top positions.
In the cabinet there are 21 ministers who must fist receive parliament’s trust vote before taking office.

Acting Police Chief Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan on Sunday said the police had performed well and that the fate of all those arrested in the post-election unrest will be determined soon.
“Based on the plans by the judicial apparatus the cases will be attended speedily,“ he told newsmen, Mehr News Agency reported.
Regarding the incidents in Kahrizak detention center, he said “An investigation team is actively following up the issues. We will certainly deal with officials who did not carry out their duties. In any event, we think that by raising some (controversial) issues some quarters want to disappoint the police in fulfilling their duties. But, this will not affect the will of the police for implementing the rule of law and restoring calm and stability to the society.“
Tehran’s police department has had an acceptable performance, he noted.
“Tehran faces problems emanating from (high) population, immigrationÉ But its police department has accomplished a great deal and has even transcended the declared targets.“
Radan’s statement came on the heels of reports at the weekend that 12 police officers and a judge have been dismissed in connection with the notorious Kahrizak detention center and are now awaiting prosecution.

Awaiting Prosecution
Parviz Sarvari, member of a parliamentary fact-finding committee tasked with probing the post-election developments, said on Saturday that cases had been filed against the 13 men, Mehr News Agency reported.
The lawmaker added that aside from the police officers, the judge who had ordered the transfer of the detainees to Kahrizak would face prosecution for flouting the law.
Sarvari said after the committee met with the detainees, those who had been released, heads of detention centers as well as judges, it was decided that almost all those working at the infamous detention center be relieved of their duties.
The ’substandard’ prison of Kahrizak was shut down on the order of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in July after reports surfaced about the mistreatment of detainees arrested for protesting the outcome of the bitterly disputed presidential vote.
After the closure of the facility, its director was arrested for ’dereliction of duty’. Two of the ’security and supervisory’ officials, who had ordered unauthorized interrogation techniques were also dismissed.

Top US envoy Richard Holbrooke praised Pakistan Sunday for military gains against Taliban insurgents, but his words were tempered by surging pre-election violence in neighboring Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama’s top troubleshooter for the Muslim neighbors arrived in Islamabad late Saturday on his second visit in a month, as the White House puts Pakistan at the heart of its fight against extremists, AFP reported.
Heavy rainfall overnight scuppered Holbrooke’s initial plan to travel on Sunday to northwest Swat valley, where Islamabad claims to have “eliminated“ extremists after launching a push against the Taliban in late April.
Holbrooke told reporters travelling on his plane that the military gains in Swat and neighboring Buner district were “significant.“
But he cautioned that the Taliban might simply have been dispersed by the military action, rather than destroyed.
On Sunday, Holbrooke met Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the main opposition politician Nawaz Sharif.
He is also scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani during his three-day stint in Pakistan, before travelling to Afghanistan.
“The talks will focus on a range of issues including rehabilitation of displaced people, the security situation in the northwest and tribal regions and presidential elections in Afghanistan,“ a foreign ministry official said.
Holbrooke’s trip comes days ahead of Thursday’s presidential and provincial elections in Afghanistan, seen as a key test of NATO- and US-driven efforts to bring peace and democracy to the war-scarred nation.
But spiraling attacks by the Taliban and other extremist groups have raised fears that Afghans will be afraid to turn out to vote, throwing into question the legitimacy of the nation’s second presidential election.
On Saturday, a suicide car bomb exploded outside the NATO military headquarters in Kabul, killing seven Afghans.

New Threat
The Taliban also threatened for the first time Sunday to directly attack polling stations, and a militant spokesman said the group would accelerate its bloody campaign of violence on the eve and day of elections.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has been locked in an offensive against Taliban rebels in the northwest and tribal belt stringing Afghanistan, believed to be a bolt hole for Al-Qaeda rebels who Washington says are plotting attacks on the West.
In an apparent blow for the militants, Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was this month reported killed in a US drone missile strike in South Waziristan, although both countries have stopped short of confirming his death.
Analysts have said US pressure will now mount on Pakistan to take advantage of the drone attacks to step up its fight against the Taliban in the lawless tribal terrain, where militants slip across the porous border into Afghanistan.

More than 140,000 troops battled Sunday to reach survivors stranded a week after Typhoon Morakot struck as the United States and China offered helicopters to help in the rescue effort.
As the massive operation to airlift people to safety from the devastated areas in southern and central Taiwan continued, President Ma Ying-jeou issued his second apology in as many days for his government’s slow response, AFP reported.
“Sorry we were late,“ Ma told a community meeting in southern Pingtung county. “Still, we hope to get your life back to normal as soon as possible,“ he added.

Death Toll
The official death toll stands at 124 but Ma has warned that number could rise to more than 500, with 1,300 people still feared buried beneath the rubble in the village of Hsiaolin alone.
After days of mounting criticism, the president convened his first national security meeting on Friday and replaced Taiwan’s head of emergency operations.
Helicopters crisscrossed southern mountainous regions, airlifting survivors to safety as troops below fought through raging rivers with collapsed bridges to reach victims, many of whom have been without food for more than a week.

US Choppers
Meanwhile the United States pledged to send heavy-lift military helicopters to Taiwan to help in relief efforts, the foreign ministry said, in what would mark the first time US troops have been deployed on the island in 30 years.
The ministry did not say when the Sikorsky CH-53Es Super Stallions, the US military’s largest and heaviest helicopter, would arrive, but national media said they could be here as early as late Sunday. It would be the first time US troops have stepped onto Taiwanese soil to deliver humanitarian aid since 1979 when Washington shifted its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Iran stunned hosts China to retain their continental basketball crown with a crushing 70-52 victory in the Asian championship final on Sunday.