Defense Minister from Behind Screens… Iran Faces a Historic Vote

A member of the Iranian parliament's presiding board, Ahmad Naderi, announced that the vote of confidence session for defense minister nominee Mehrdad Akhlaghi will be held on Sunday, October 18, via electronic voting, the first of its kind in the history of the Iranian parliament. He stressed that exceptional circumstances require a virtual vote and that no ballot papers will be used. President Masoud Pezeshkian nominated Akhlaghi last week, about seven months after the killing of former defense minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh in a simultaneous attack carried out by Israel and the United States. Akhlaghi works in Iran's aviation and aerospace industries sector and is listed on U.S. and European sanctions lists, while parliament is holding its sessions by video link due to wartime conditions instead of its permanent Baharestan headquarters.