The story: Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament has confirmed all but one of President Ebrahimi Raisi’s cabinet nominees. The ministers notably include four former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders. Raisi has also appointed ex-IRGC chief commander Mohsen Rezaee as his vice president for economic affairs. But some observers now foresee internal tensions as the cabinet brings together members of a variety of rival hardline factions.

The coverage: Lawmakers approved 18 ministerial nominees, but Hossein Baghgoli, the proposed education minister, failed a vote of confidence. Conservative Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Aug. 25 urged the president to name another education minister. The parliament’s internal rules of procedure dictate that Raisi now has three months to propose a candidate.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Ezzatollah Zarqami, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi and Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani obtained the highest proportion of votes in favor of their nominations. Other notable confirmed cabinet members include Ali Akbar Mehrabian as energy minister, Javad Owji as petroleum minister and Esmail Khatib as the Intelligence Minister.

Outgoing foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif congratulated Amir-Abdollahian on his confirmation, wishing him and the ministry success. In his first tweet in English as chief diplomat, Amir-Abdollahian on Aug. 25 described “Neighbors & Asia” as his first foreign policy priority. The tweet was later posted in Arabic. As Amwaj.media has exclusively reported, Amir-Abdollahian is set to travel to Iraq as his first destination as foreign minister. He will be in the Iraqi capital on Aug. 28 to attend a conference that brings together regional leaders for talks on promoting peace and stability in Iraq.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to felicitate Raisi upon his victory in the June 18 presidential elections. Similarly, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, was reportedly the first foreign official who congratulated Amir-Abdollahian.

“I’m aware that you are in favor of the consolidation of multidimensional cooperation between Russia and Iran,” wrote Lavrov in his message to his new Iranian counterpart on Aug. 25.

In Iran, Reformists and hardliners differed in their reactions to the confirmation of the ministers.

Maysam Sharafi, a Reformist activist, sarcastically suggested that all say a prayer known for being recited at times when people fear an impending calamity.

Mohammad Kazem Jafari, a Reformist journalist, addressed the hardliners and Raisi, writing on Aug. 26 that it is time for the conservative camp to improve people’s livelihoods and end their “suicidal” hostility towards Zarif and moderate former president Hassan Rouhani.

Ali Qolhaki, a hardline journalist, tweeted on Aug. 25 that President Raisi now has four years to make the Iranian people hopeful about the Islamic Republic. On the same day, fellow hardline activist Mohammad Akbarzadeh also expressed his hopes about Raisi succeeding in reviving people’s “trust” in the authorities.

Seyyed Pouyan Hosseinpour, another hardline activist, described Ahmad Vahidi, an IRGC officer who previously commanded the extraterritorial Quds Force, as Raisi’s most shining minister. “The management of one of the most important ministries” is now in the hands of a man who was once “a nightmare” of Israel, wrote Hosseinpour on Aug. 25.

The context/analysis: Raisi’s conservative cabinet contains members of a variety of strands from Iran’s conservative camp. This has given rise to speculations that with control over all three branches of government—namely the parliament, presidency and the judiciary—the conservatives will soon resume major infighting.

Analysts have also pointed out that Raisi’s cabinet includes five former IRGC commanders: four ministers and Vice President for Economic Affairs Rezaee. The ‘IRGC ministers’ notably include Zarqami, who previously served as head of the state broadcaster, and Qasemi, the former economic deputy of the Quds Force. Of further note, Qasemi was oil minister under conservative former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-13).

Amir-Abdollahian, the new foreign minister, also easily won a vote of confidence. While not an IRGC commander, he has long had close ties with the Guard Corps and especially its extraterritorial branch. Indeed, Amir-Abdollahian is believed to have been the only region-specific deputy foreign minister to have kept his job when Rouhani took office in 2013 due to backing from late Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. He ultimately left the ministry in 2016 over differences with Zarif. Amir-Abdollahian was confirmed by the 290-member parliament with 270 votes in favor, 10 opposing and 6 abstentions.

While figures such as Qassemi and Vahidi faced no opposition in parliament, Khatib, the proposed intelligence minister, became subject to severe attacks by a number of lawmakers. MPs from mainly the hardline Endurance Front argued that Khatib is not sufficiently zealous as he failed to stop the activities of “secular” groups in Qom when he was head of intelligence in the seminary city.

The future: Critics have described Raisi’s cabinet as a publicly traded stock held by many hardline investors. Their fundamental argument is that there are already structural grounds for the emergence of major internal disagreements within the cabinet since it tries to include perhaps too many rival factions.

Raisi’s failure would carry high costs for the supreme leader as the new Iranian administration has been labeled as the “[Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei cabinet.” It is indeed worth noting that all of Raisi’s most prominent rivals were barred from running in the June 18 elections by the Guardian Council. Khamenei appoints all clerics on the vetting body.