Abbas Araghchi, former nuclear negotiator, is nominated as Iranian foreign minister

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has nominated former nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi as foreign minister, state media announced on Sunday.

Parliamentary commissions will meet on Monday to discuss the cabinet nominations, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said.

Candidates will have to be approved by Parliament before taking office, in hearings scheduled for the end of August.

Mr Araghchi was a chief negotiator for Iran in nuclear talks with western powers between 2013 and 2021.

He also served as the ministry's spokesman, political deputy and ambassador to Finland and Japan. He was also the first head of Iran's mission to the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation.

If approved, he would take over from Ali Bagheri Kani, who served as interim Foreign Minister after predecessor Hossein Amirabdollahian was killed in a helicopter crash alongside former president Ebrahim Raisi in May.

Their deaths triggered a June election won by Mr Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate who has since appointed Mohammad Javad Zarif – former foreign minister and also a leading nuclear negotiator – as his Vice President for strategic affairs.

Mr Pezeshkian also proposed former air force chief Gen Aziz Nasirzadeh as defence minister and Eskandar Momeni, a relatively moderate police general, as interior minister, according to a list of nominees published by state news agency Irna.

Farzaneh Sadegh, a director in the Ministry of Roads and Housing, would become only the second woman minister since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution if parliament approves Mr Pezeshkian's proposal to put her in charge.

Mohsen Paknejad, a former official in the National Iranian Oil Company, was named as Oil Minister.

Mr Pezeshkian proposed to retain Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, while moving Industries Minister Abbas Aliabadi to head the Energy Ministry.

On Saturday, he reappointed Mohammad Eslami as chief of Iran’s civilian nuclear programme and one of several Vice Presidents.

Mr Pezeshkian was inaugurated two weeks ago in a ceremony overshadowed by the suspected Israeli assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse hours later.

Iran has vowed a direct attack against Israel in return, prompting a flurry of diplomatic efforts to prevent the war from further regional spillover.

Israel has not taken responsibility for the strike which killed Mr Haniyeh.

Mr Pezeshkian has signalled an interest in better relations with the West – a departure from Mr Raisi, an ultraconservative who was a strong proponent of advancing Iran's nuclear ambitions and preferred to enhance relations with regional allies and partners in Africa and Latin America.

However, the president does not hold the ultimate authority in Iran – reserved for Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who continues to speak out against the West, namely the US, over the war in Gaza.

With reporting from agencies