TEHRAN — Iran's President Hassan Rohani said Sunday the top foreign policy priority for his new government was to protect the nuclear deal from being torn up by the United States.

"The most important job of our foreign minister is first to stand behind the JCPOA, and not to allow the US and other enemies to succeed," Rohani told parliament, using the technical name for the 2015 deal that eased sanctions in exchange for curbs to Iran's nuclear program.

"Standing up for the JCPOA means standing up to Iran's enemies," he said on the last day of debates over his cabinet selections.

Rohani indicated a week ago that Iran was ready to walk out on the nuclear deal if the United States continued to apply fresh sanctions.

It has come under mounting pressure after Tehran carried out missile tests and Washington imposed new sanctions — with each accusing the other of violating the spirit of the agreement.

But Rohani has insisted the deal remains the preferred way forward, not least to help rebuild Iran's struggling economy and create jobs.

"The second responsibility of the foreign ministry... is to get involved in economic activities. It should help attract foreign investment and technology," Rohani said.

He was addressing lawmakers ahead of votes of confidence on his ministerial choices.

Later, lawmakers approved 16 nominated Cabinet members, including the first defense minister unaffiliated with the elite, hard-line Revolutionary Guard in 25 years.

Speaker Ali Larijani said lawmakers approved 16 of 17 proposed ministers, among them Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with 236 votes, and Oil Minister Began Zingano with 230 out of 288 members of parliament who voted. The chamber has 290 seats.

The most votes went to Gen. Amir Hatami for defense minister, with 261 votes. It marked first time Iran has appointed a defense minister who has no ties to the hard-line Revolutionary Guard in nearly 25 years.

Hatami, 51, told parliament that improving the country's missile program is on his agenda.

"We will apply special effort for improving ballistic missile power," he said.

Rohani urged Hatami to improve ties between the Iranian army and the Revolutionary Guard while using modern technology for improving the country's arsenal.

The defense minister is tasked with producing weapons for both the army and the Guard, which is in charge of launching Iran's ballistic missiles.

The nominee for energy ministry, Habibolalh Bitaraf, was not approved. During a review, members of parliament criticized him for lacking a plan to fight the longstanding drought and water crisis in the country, where many towns and cities suffer from shortage.

Iran's Cabinet has 18 ministerial posts but Rohani did not propose a candidate for ministry of science, which is in charge of higher education.

Under the law, the president can manage ministries which have no leader for up to three months. — Agencies