Ahmadinejad nominates new Iranian justice minister

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday named close ally and government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham as new justice minister, state radio reported. In a letter to the Iranian parliament read live on the radio, Ahmadinejad nominated Elham as the successor to Jamal Karimirad, who died in a road accident on Dec 28. Under the law, Elham's nomination must receive a vote of confidence before he can take the post. Deputy parliament speaker, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, said legislators would discuss Elham's qualifications next Sunday. The change would be Ahmadinejad's third since the hard-line leader took office in August 2005. Last year, Ahmadinejad replaced the minister of cooperatives and minister of social welfare.