Iran's Ahmadinejad Finally Wins Backing for Oil Minister

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Iran's parliament has approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fourth nominee for oil minister, the ministry's current caretaker Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, ending a three-month-old dispute over the key post.

Vaziri-Hamaneh was widely seen as a compromise choice for the hardline president, who had been pushing for a fresh face to purge a ministry he claims has been run by a "mafia" and for Iran's huge oil revenues to be distributed among the poor.

He won the backing of 172 deputies out of the 259 present in the 290-seat Majlis. Fifty-three MPs voted against and 34 abstained Sunday.

Deputies had rejected Ahmadinejad's first choice on August 29, arguing the radical nominee lacked experience in a sector which accounts for 80 percent of the country's export revenues.

The president's second nominee was withdrawn ahead of a vote, while the third was rejected last month.

In a brief speech, Ahmadinejad asserted Vaziri-Hamaneh was "one of the caring, pious and devoted sources of the oil ministry, who has been in different parts of the oil ministry for more than 30 years, and has the experience and has also experienced holding responsibilities." READ MORE

"For more than three months he has been running the ministry well," said Ahmadinejad, who appeared confident he would escape another embarrassing no-confidence vote for his nominee.

Born in 1945, Vaziri-Hamaneh has spent his entire career in the oil sector, which is the backbone of the country's economy.

He has a masters degree in governmental management and began work as a petroleum project engineer in a subsidiary of the ministry.

He became a director of corporate planning in the oil ministry and has served as a board member of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company.

One MP, Sattar Hedayatkhah, said Vaziri-Hamaneh was even "more competent that previous oil ministers".

Parliament is controlled by Iran's right wing, but many deputies have voiced unease with Ahmadinejad's style.

The long-running dispute over the minister has also highlighted divisions within the Islamic republic's dominant right-wing camp, a mix of more pragmatic and moderate conservatives and religious hardliners like Ahmadinejad.

Deputies have acknowledged that the failure to fill the post has been damaging to investor confidence as well as the Iran's standing within OPEC, where it is the number-two producer.

But not all deputies were happy with Ahmadinejad's compromise.

Hardline MP Rashid Jalali-Jafari complained the new minister was apparently oblivious to the presence of an "oil mafia", pointing to "150 companies which have been set up under the oil ministry for both proper and improper contracts".

Iran, estimated to hold 12 percent of world oil reserves, currently produces 4.2 million barrels per day, or 5.2 percent of global production.