A conservative Iranian MP said on Monday there was a "high possibility" parliament would approve President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's proposed new oil minister, the Oil Ministry's website reported.
In another sign of support for nominated new Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi, who has little known experience of the sector, the head of the state gas exporting firm expressed hope he would secure sufficient backing in the assembly.
The outcome of Wednesday's parliamentary verdict on the proposed ministers is seen as a test of Ahmadinejad's hold on power in Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, after his disputed re-election in a June presidential poll.
Parliament must approve Ahmadinejad's 21-member cabinet in voting scheduled for Wednesday and some deputies have criticised the president for nominating several ministers without the necessary experience, including Mirkazemi.
But lawmaker Vali Esmaili said members of parliament's majority conservative faction had been "convinced on the abilities and programmes" presented by Mirkazemi, the Oil Ministry website SHANA said.
"There is a high possibility that he will get the confidence vote on Wednesday," Esmaili said. "The traditional way of management in the Oil Ministry needs essential changes and Mirkazemi is able to carry out such an important task."
The nomination of Mirkazemi, the current commerce minister, to replace Gholamhossein Nozari as oil minister was a surprise move by Ahmadinejad, as he submitted a list of his new cabinet to parliament on Aug. 19.
"POSITIVE MOOD"
Mirkazemi, an industrial engineer, is seen as an ally of the hardline president. The Oil Ministry portfolio is a key post as crude sales account for most of Iran's state revenue.
In 2005, the president failed to get his first three choices for oil minister appointed because of parliament's opposition.
The new oil minister faces the challenge of boosting oil and gas output under U.S. and U.N. sanctions, imposed because of a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. The West suspects Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons while Iran says its programme is exclusively for peaceful power generation.
At the start of a three-day parliamentary debate on Sunday, Ahmadinejad praised Mirkazemi as a "pure and committed person" who had been a successful manager and commerce minister.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Gholamreza Dehqan, a member of parliament's legal commission, as saying there was a positive mood towards Mirkazemi after he held several meetings with deputies to outline his policies.
Mirkazemi also received backing from Reza Kasaeizadeh, managing director of the state National Iranian Gas Export Company, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
"The proposed oil minister has a strategic view in this field and the country's oil industry currently needs to be updated and (he) … has the ability to do it," he said.
The nominated cabinet also includes three women ministers, for the posts of education, health and social welfare. They would be the first female ministers in the Islamic Republic.
Analysts say a stormy debate in parliament on the ministerial nominees, less than three months after the election which plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, could damage Ahmadinejad politically.
