Moderate Nominated for Interior Post
President Mohammad Khatami nominated a moderate cleric as interior minister, setting the stage for a confrontation with lawmakers who impeached the previous minister. In a letter to parliament, Khatami named Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, a vice president and key ally, to head the ministry, the nation’s official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Mousavi-Lari, 44, was deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance from 1982 to 1992, when Khatami was the minister. He left when Khatami was forced to resign by hard-liners who objected to his giving the press more freedom and liberalizing state-run television.
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