Arash Zerehtan was a member of parliament for the city of Paveh between 2020 and this year. (Dossier)
Tehran:
Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday appointed a member of the Sunni Muslim minority as governor of Kurdistan province, official media reported.
Arash Zerehtan has been appointed head of the western state, IRNA news agency reported, citing government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani.
He is the first Sunni to be appointed regional governor of the predominantly Shiite country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Arash Zerehtan, 48, was a member of parliament for the city of Paveh between 2020 and this year.
Sunnis make up about 10 percent of Iran's population. The vast majority are Shia. Shia Islam is the official state religion.
Since the revolution, they have rarely held key positions of power.
Pezeshkian, 69, took office in July following snap elections after ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash.
During his election campaign, Pezeshkian criticized the lack of representation of ethnic and religious minorities, especially Sunni Kurds, in key positions.
In August, he appointed another member of the Sunni minority, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, as one of his vice presidents.
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