Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi presented his cabinet to parliament for approval in a confidence vote on Wednesday, appointing a conservative diplomat as foreign minister to oversee negotiations with six major powers in a bid to revive the nuclear deal.
The list of ministers - published by state media - shows that Raisi chose Hussein Amir Abdollahian as foreign minister, and Javad Oji - a former deputy oil minister and managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company - as oil minister.
State television said the list would be officially announced next Saturday in parliament.
Raisi was sworn in as Iran's president on August 5, succeeding Hassan Rouhani, after elections held last June.
Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Iranian president's candidate for the foreign ministry portfolio (Iranian press)
Amir Abdullahian served as his country's ambassador to Bahrain, and was deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs between 2011 and 2016.
He also served as deputy head of the diplomatic mission at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad between 1997 and 2001.
A former Iranian official said Raisi's selection of Abdullahian shows he attaches importance to regional issues in his foreign policy.
Vienna negotiations
A nuclear negotiator, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, "Amir Abdullahian is a hard-line diplomat... If the Foreign Ministry remains responsible for Iran's nuclear file, it is clear that Tehran will adopt a very hard line in the talks."
Reuters reported that reports in Iranian semi-official media indicated that Iran's Supreme National Security Council - which reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - will handle the nuclear negotiations in Vienna instead of the Foreign Ministry, which was led by relatively moderates during Rouhani's rule.
Iran and 6 world powers have been holding talks since the ninth of last April to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, which the United States abandoned 3 years ago, when the administration of former President Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions that undermined the Iranian economy by reducing oil exports.
The sixth round of talks was held in Vienna on June 20, with Iranian and Western officials saying that there are still significant gaps in returning Tehran and Washington to full compliance with the agreement.
The parties involved in the talks did not specify the date of the next round of negotiations.
Parliament, which is controlled by conservatives, is not expected to change major choices for sensitive ministerial positions such as foreign affairs and oil; Because the president chooses them with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.