TEHRAN — Less than two months after the astonishing victory of Hassan Rouhani in Iran’s 11th presidential election, it appears that the honeymoon period of the president-elect, who will officially become president on Aug. 3, is over. His picks for the cabinet have created a new controversy in the Iranian political arena.

Although the media outlets close to both Reformist and Principalist factions in Iran have made a lot of predictions about Rouhani’s cabinet, it appears that at least the choice for one of the ministries has been finalized. This is the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which is incidentally one of the most controversial ministries for both political factions as well as social forces demanding change in Iran.

“As far as the offer given to me is concerned, the decision is final,” said Ali Jannati on Monday in an interview with the Reformist Bahar newspaper. He continued: “They have asked me to prepare a plan of action for this ministry (Culture and Islamic Guidance) and I am in the process of writing the plan. I believe that the decision of the president-elect is final.”

The ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is officially in charge of planning and executing cultural policies. Since it has a wide range of authority in supervising the press and expanding the freedom of speech, it has a very important position in today’s closed political atmosphere. The Reformist press from 1997 to 2000 managed to become a strong arm in support of democracy, having received a green light from Ata'ollah Mohajerani, the minister at the time who served during the first term of Reformist Mohammad Khatami’s presidency. They also managed to criticize the policies and organization inside the establishment.