Breaking taboos under banner of national unity
By Ebrahim Beheshti
Staff writer
The Iranian government appointed Mansour Bijar, a Sunni Baluch, as the governor general of Sistan and Baluchestan province. This is a first for the southeastern province, as Bijar is both a native son and a Sunni Baluch. Simultaneously, the Parliament has given the green light to the resignation of Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, a lawmaker representing of Naqadeh and Oshnavieh from Kurdish regions of Iran, paving the way for his appointment as vice president for rural development and deprived areas. Hosseinzadeh is the first Sunni Kurd to hold this position in the past four decades, thereby opening the door for Sunni representation in the cabinet.
Previously, Mohammad Qasim Osmani, a Sunni Kurdish MP, had made it to the Parliament’s presiding board, while Shahram Irani, a Sunni Kurdish military officer, had been appointed as the commander of the Army’s Naval Force by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. However, until now, Sunni citizens had been shut out of the cabinet.
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