Tehran: Iran's president said on Sunday that three women will join his Cabinet, the first female ministers in the country since the 1970s.

Speaking on state television, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad named Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as minister of health and Fatemeh Ajorlu as minister of welfare and social security.

The president did not name the third minister, but said he will have at least one more woman on his Cabinet.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, has announced several key members of his new cabinet, nearly two weeks after he was sworn in following the country's disputed June election.

In a television address on Sunday, Ahmadinejad named two women among his final choices for ministerial posts, a first in the Islamic republic's history.

Dr Marziyeh Vahid Dastjerdi, a gynecologist and obstetrician, was picked to head the ministry of health, while Fatemah Ajourlou, currently a member of parliament, was named to head the ministry of welfare.

Ahmadinejad said he would announce the full list of cabinet members later this week, including at least one more female pick. He has until Wednesday to present his cabinet to parliament for approval.

"With the tenth presidential election, we have entered a new era ... conditions [have] changed completely and the government will see major changes," Ahmadinejad told state television.

Opposition on trial

His cabinet announcement coincided with the third trial of opposition supporters accused of sparking unrest following the June 12 election.

Iranian state media said at least 25 more opposition supporters and activists went on trial in the capital, Tehran, on Sunday, facing charges of stirring up mass protests.

Prosecutors read a general indictment for the group, accusing them of plotting the unrest for years, Iran's IRNA news agency reported.

Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said the indictment also accused the defendants of defrauding the election and trying to topple the Iranian government.

He said defence lawyers have said the accusations are much stronger than their clients' actual crimes.

"Eleven people have defended themselves so far. Almost every single one of them has denied the very serious charges against them. Nevertheless, they have asked the supreme leader and the Iranian to forgive them," Ronaghi said.

"Some have accused opposition leaders of inciting them and deceiving them to go out and take part in the rallies that they thought were not really illegal."

Government crackdown

Sunday's hearing marked the third mass trial for more than 100 prominent opposition supporters and activists accused of offences ranging from rioting to spying and seeking to topple Iran's rulers.

They were among hundreds of protesters, activists and journalists detained in a government crackdown following the unrest, which left at least 20 people dead.

The trial has included televised confessions that rights groups say were likely extracted through pressure.

The US, France, Britain and the EU presidency have condemned the trials.

The June election returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country's president, to power, but the opposition insists the vote was rigged.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a reformist presidential candidate in the elections, and Mehdi Karroubi, another opposition candidate, led protests in the wake of the elections, sparking a major crackdown by the police and the detention of hundreds of people.

Reformist leaders and human rights groups have complained that some detainees were abused, tortured and raped. 

Senior police and judiciary officials have acknowledged that there has been some mistreatment and have called for those responsible to be punished.

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Fifty-year-old Dastgerdi is currently a gynecologist. Ajorlu, who is 43, is a lawmaker.

Iran's last female minister, Farrokhroo Parsay, served from 1968 to 1977. She was executed on charges of corruption