Iran elects first female minister since 1979 revolution
17:33, 3 September 2009
MOSCOW. September 3. KAZINFORM. Iranian lawmakers elected on Thursday the country's first female government minister since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in a vote to approve President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new cabinet; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, who was endorsed as health minister, was one of 18 nominations by the hardline president, controversially re-elected in June.
Ahmadinejad's two other female nominees for ministerial posts - Fatemeh Ajorlou as welfare and social security minister, and Susan Keshavarz as education minister - were rejected by the legislature; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.