On July 16 at the government meeting in Meshed city, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced reshuffles in the state agencies, IRNA reported.
Under the reshuffles, former Iranian representative to IAEA and Vice President, Ali Akbar Salehi, has been appointed as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. He replaces retired Gohlam Reza Aghazadeh, who had held that post for 12 years.
Vice-President of Iran and Head of Tourism and Protection of Cultural Monuments, Isfandiar Rahim Mashaee, will now hold the post of Deputy President. Mashaee will be replaced by his deputy, Hamid Baghai.
Ahmadinejad's First Deputy Parviz Davoodi has been appointed Adviser to the President. His predecessor, Mujtab Hashimi Samara, will occupy the position of Chief Assistant to the President.
The inauguration of the Iranian President will be held on Aug. 8. The new government will set to work after Ahmadinejad's oath-taking ceremony in Parliament. The president must submit the full composition of the new Cabinet by late September.
Ali Akbar Salehi is an Iranian scientist and politician. Salehi has a bachelor degree from the American University of Beirut and received a doctorate in technical sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977. He has also been a tutor and the head of Sharif University of Technology, a member of the Iranian Academy of Sciences and ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics), Trieste, Italy.
For more than four years doctor Salehi held the position of Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He had to deal with many difficulties in 2003 when the Iranian nuclear program was permanently on the agenda at IAEA meetings.
Salehi signed additional protocol to the safeguard agreement from Iran on December 18, 2003.
He was nominated as a candidate for Scientific Advisor to the Iranian Foreign Minister on January 20, 2004.