At the cabinet meeting which was held in Tehran on Sunday evening, Ahmadinejad’s First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Iran’s Economy Minister Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini were appointed as government spokesmen, the state-run Fars news agency reported.
Rahimi will be the government’s spokesman on political, social and cultural affairs while Hosseini will be the government’s spokesman on economic affairs.
In September 2009 Ahmadinejad chose for the post of Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who was one of several vice presidents during his first four-year term. Ahmadinejad had earlier come under serious fire from his own hardline supporters after he appointed his relative Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as his first deputy and then delayed in removing him, having been ordered to do so by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei over controversial remarks by Mashaie.
Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini is a former deputy welfare and social affairs minister.
Gholam Hossein Elham was the government's previous spokesman. Although he stood down a few months ago, he is still believed to be a key ally and part of the inner circle of Ahmadinejad's government.
