Sousan Keshavarz was the 2009 nominee of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Minister of Education. She was voted down by the Majlis of Iran

Majlis of Iran

The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...

 on September 3, 2009 with 49 favoring, 209 opposing, and 28 abstaining votes.

Nomination

She has been criticized for her lack of experience. Asadollah Abbasi, a member of the Parliamentary

Majlis

' , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting", used in the context of "council", to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries...

Education Committee, said beforehand that Mr. Ahmedinejad's nomination of Keshavarz would make it "clear that he knows nothing about education." However, MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi supported her, saying that women constitute 50 percent of the country’s population and 60 percent of the students in universities are female. He added that naming them in the new cabinet is a reformation.

Following her nomination for the education ministry, Keshavarz's presentation of her policy agenda in late August 2009 made her the first woman ministerial nominee to address the Iranian parliament since the 1970s.