Sepenta Niknam, representing the Zoroastrian community, participated as a member of the nomination committee for the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts. This committee was responsible for announcing the names of the ministry’s candidates and presenting their report.
According to Amordad’s report from ISNA, the committee was chaired by Bahman Namvar Motlaq and aimed to introduce suitable candidates for the ministry to the elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian. During its brief period of activity, the committee achieved a diverse representation of different ethnicities and groups, including former and current ministry managers, private sector members, and non-governmental organizations. As the Zoroastrian representative, Sepenta Niknam collaborated with other committee members to develop indicators and criteria for selecting the ideal minister.
The committee had four main tasks:
- Preparing a short text to introduce the ministry to the president.
- Preparing a detailed text outlining the future minister’s plans for parliament.
- Compiling indicators and criteria to determine the desired minister.
- Scoring ministry candidates and introducing five main options in two stages.
Sepenta Niknam and other members of the nomination committee for the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts reviewed the resumes of more than 50 candidates, ultimately nominating 15 candidates. With these efforts, the committee successfully concluded its mission and presented a summary report of its actions.
Members of the Committee for Introducing the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts:
Bahman Namvar Motlaq, former Deputy Head of Handicrafts and Head of the Committee; Mahdi Hojat, former Head of the Organization; Mohammad Beheshti, former Head of the Organization; Masoud Soltanifar, former Head of the Organization; Hassan Talebian, former Deputy of Cultural Heritage; Yahya Rahmati, former Deputy of Handicrafts; Mosayeb Amiri, former Head of the Research Institute; Yousef Mansourzadeh, former Head of the Higher Education Center; Mohammadreza Kargar, former Director General of Museums; Hossein Allah Badashti, former Director General of Organizations; Delavar Bozorgnia, former Provincial Director General; Seyed Hossein Hejazi, CEO of Abbas Abad Tourism Region; Hossein Bakhtiari, Representative of Handicrafts Organizations; Seyed Mohsen Haj Saeedi, Representative of Tourism Organizations; Babak Maghazei, Representative of Non-Governmental Organizations; Siamak Sahafi, Representative of the Private Sector; Arman Vatandoust, Representative of Sunnis; Sepenta Niknam, Representative of Zoroastrians; Herbert Karim Masihi, Representative of Christians and Private Sector Activist; Allameh Azizi, Representative of Youth; Leila Azhdari, Representative of Women; Narges Rajaei, Representative of Women; and Seyed Mohsen Mir, Secretary of the Committee.
The names of the 15 selected candidates for the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts in the first stage, in order of points, are as follows:
Samiollah Hosseini Makarem, Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, Yadollah Taheranzhad, Alireza Tabesh, Gholam Heydar Ebrahim Bay Salami, Vali Teymouri, Seyed Mohammadreza Seyed Hosseini, Morteza Rahmani Movahed, Mohammad Ebrahim Zarei, Hassan Fartousi, Ali Rahimpour, Ali Hashemi Behramani, Kazem Mandegari, Saeed Owhadi, and Parvaneh Salahshour.
