TEHRAN – A number of lawmakers have reacted to the appointment of presidential envoys, calling the move an interference in the work of the Foreign Ministry in handling foreign policy issues.

In a decree issued last week, President Ahmadinejad appointed Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Hamid Baghaei, Mehdi Akhoundzadeh, and Abolfazl Zohrevand respectively as his special envoys in the Middle East, Asia, Caspian Sea, and Afghanistan.
Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said he is not well informed of President Ahmadinejad’s reasons in appointing special envoys.
“I have not had the chance to ask the Foreign Ministry about the rationale behind this decision,” Larijani told reporters on Sunday.
Larijani, a chief nuclear negotiator in the early days of Ahmadinejad’s presidency, went on to say that under the current condition, more vigilance is needed in pursuing foreign policy matters.
On Saturday, top legislator Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee is concerned over the appointment of Mashaei as the president’s special envoy due to his lack of expertise in foreign policy issues and the number of posts that he holds.
Appointment of special envoys ‘conventional’
Responding to critics, Mashaei told ISNA news agency that appointment of special envoys is something ‘normal’ and it does not put the independence of the Foreign Ministry’s into question.
Appointment of inexperienced special envoys ‘irrational’
Javad Mansouri, the former Iranian ambassador to China and Pakistan, says the appointment of inexperienced persons as special envoys is “irrational”.
The decision by President Ahmadinejad has dealt a blow to the Foreign Ministry and its diplomats, because it is thought that the role of the ministry has been undermined with the appointment of special envoys, Mansouri stated.
By such appointments, Iran’s ambassadors do not know whose order they should follow, Mansouri told the Mehr News Agency.
MP Mostafa Kavakebian says three points must be observed in appointment of the special representatives.
It must be studied whether the appointments have been ratified by the council of ministers, whether the foreign minister has suggested those people to the president, and finally whether the appointed envoys are expert enough or not, Kavakebian said.
In an open session of the Majlis on Sunday, MP Elyas Naderan asked Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to give explanation about the handover of the ministry’s authority to the special envoys and the High Council for Iranian Expatriates.
Mottaki said the council has been formed on the order of the president and pursues issues through the Foreign Ministry.
However, Naderan said he was not convinced by the minister’s response.