President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad submitted a new Cabinet purged of critics and packed with loyalists and little-known figures, and lawmakers Thursday warned it could face a challenge from members of his own conservative camp in the parliament. Ahmadinejad is also under pressure from fellow conservatives, who have long criticized the president for hoarding power by putting close associates with little experience in key posts. Parliament must approve the new government lineup, setting the stage for a possible fight over the nominees. Mohammad Reza Bahonar, one of parliament's deputy speakers, told state television that Ahmadinejad's list of 18 names was submitted late Wednesday. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani indirectly criticized Ahmadinejad, suggesting his nominees lacked experience and political weight. For the health ministry, Ahmadinejad has nominated Marzieh Vadi Dastgerdi, one three women he has named - who if approved would be Iran's first female ministers. The parliament will hold a week of discussions on the ministers before voting on each minister separately on Sept. 30. Six of the nominees are holdovers from Ahmadinejad's previous government, though two of them are being moved to new ministries. Among them is Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who will retain his post. Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar has been nominated as the new interior minister, in charge of police. Ahmadinejad also appeared to have purged conservative critics. Gone from the list were four members of the outgoing government - the intelligence, culture, health and labor ministers Ahmadinejad had already fired his intelligence minister, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, soon after the Mashai controversy, raising a storm of criticism from conservative lawmakers and hard-line clerics. His nominee for the post is a close ally, Moslehi. Another nominee who could draw fire from parliament is Ali Akbar Mehrabian, whom Ahmadinejad is seeking to maintain as industry minister. Mehrabian has been convicted of fraud in an intellectual property rights case. Ahmadinejad named Commerce Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi as his new oil minister, a key position in the country. The retention of Mottaki as foreign minister suggested Ahmadinejad wants to keep the same face to the outside world - though the main issues of foreign policy like the rivalry with the US and negotiations over the nuclear program are mainly in the hands of the supreme leader, Khamenei. Other nominees were little known figures. State television's website reported that the defense minister nominee was Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. It also named Morteza Bakhtiari, currently a provincial governor, as the proposed justice minister and Mahdi Ghazanfari, a deputy commerce minister, as the nominee for commerce minister.
