More than two months after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's startling electoral victory, the Iranian president is trying to set his seal upon the new administration by finalizing a cabinet that has drawn criticism from conservatives and reformists alike. Four of his choices were turned down by a hardliner-dominated Majlis (parliament).
Many of the proposed ministers were little known in Iran, reflecting Ahmadinejad's desire to bring in a new political generation, but causing legislators to fret that they had insufficient experience for such demanding posts. Many also had backgrounds in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the intelligence services, causing fears among reformists and traditionalist conservatives that the new cabinet would be too close to the
military.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi
The new interior minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi served in the intelligence ministry in the late 1990s, when it was charged with a series of assassinations against anti-regime figures and economic corruption. "A security-oriented view is becoming dominant," said Majlis deputy Emad Afrough. "Such background makes us shake."
Behind the scenes, the manoeuvring is thought to represent a conflict for domination within the conservative camp, with members of the hardliner faction seeking to impose their agenda on the new administration. Hardliners have fiercely worked to steer policy to the right since taking control of the Majlis in a 2004 election criticized by Iranian liberals as undemocratic.
Ali Saeedlou
The key battle will be for the post of oil minister, where Ahmadinejad's first choice candidate, Ali Saeedlou, was turned down. He now has three months to choose a replacement, with the job temporarily going to former oil ministry official Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh as caretaker.
Saeedlou was one of Ahamdinejad's closest political allies, having served as his deputy at Tehran municipality, where he won a reputation as a reliable but unspectacular administrator. He was turned down by the Majlis on grounds of inexperience, but hardliners in the body are really thought to want one of their own members to be appointed, setting a more radical agenda in oil policy.
The energy sector and Iran's distribution of its oil revenues were central issues in the June poll, with Ahmadinejad promising to tackle corruption and share the nation's enormous mineral wealth among the poor. He also said foreign companies were given an unfair advantage over local firms for competition over big oil contracts.
Technocrat critics in the oil ministry fear the new president will purge experienced oil men, and say the sector desperately needs foreign expertise to reverse falling crude output and carry out a huge expansion of natural gas production. More than 30% of government income last year was from oil sales.
Davoud Danesh-Jafari
The Majlis did confirm the nomination of finance and economy minister, Davoud Danesh-Jafari. The new man drew up Iran's 20-year perspective, a market-oriented policy document that has helped guide economic restructuring aimed at reducing state participation in the economy, now estimated at more than 70% of activity.
Iranian hardliners have spoken out against capitalism and foreign investment in the past, and some analysts had anticipated a less pragmatic choice. However, the private sector remains unconvinced by the new administration's credentials. The Tehran Stock Exchange suffered a sharp decline after the election, from which it has failed to recover.
In part, this could be a result of fears over the nuclear crisis, which has grown more heated since Ahmadinejad's victory. Western countries have been using harder language towards Tehran since it decided to recommence uranium enrichment work at the Isfahan complex. The US has long wanted to bring Iran to the UN Security Council, which could impose economic sanctions.
Manouchehr Mottaki/Ali Larijani
The growing tension will absorb the new foreign policy team, comprising Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and the new head of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani. So far, they have spoken fiercely in defence of Iranian national rights, while insisting they still want to find a negotiated solution. In doing so, they have sought to widen the debate, ending the bilateral process with the EU and introducing non-aligned movement states to the table.
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehei
On the domestic front, reformists and even some traditionalist conservatives are worried that the new administration will press for a roll-back of political and social freedom. Apart from the appointment of Pourmohammedi as interior minister, they have spoken with concern about intelligence minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehei, a clerical judge who once headed the revolutionary court.
Hossein Safar-Harandi
Many of the new ministers, including Mohseni-Ejehei, are former students at the Haqqani seminary in Qom, perhaps the most revolutionary of all Iranian religious schools. They are likely to seek more stringent observation of public morality, particularly among upper and middle class Iranians. With the appointment of Hossein Safar-Harandi as the minister for culture & Islamic guidance, that policy seems well established.