TEHRAN - After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the oath of office for his second term on Wednesday, pundits began to speculate about the makeup of the new cabinet.

An insider said that the post of first vice president -- from which Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii was forced to resign shortly after being appointed -- will probably be filled by one of the president’s right-hand men such as Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Ali Saeedlou, or Gholam-Hossein Elham.
However, some informed sources claim that Rahimi, who is currently the vice president for parliamentary affairs, will most probably be appointed to the post of first vice president. It has also been said that Rahimi has an influence on the president in his decisions to appoint people to ministerial posts and other key positions.
However, Saeedlou, who is currently the vice president for executive affairs, has signaled that he is not interested in becoming first vice president. “My spirit is not in conformity with the first vice presidency,” Saeedlou told a Mehr News Agency correspondent.
However, there are reports that Saeedlou will be appointed to serve as the chairman of the Physical Education Organization. With a green light from the president, Saeedlou had stepped in to resolve some disputes in the PEO in recent months.
According to some unconfirmed reports, Health Minister Baqer Lankarani will be replaced and former MP Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi will be given the portfolio, which would make her the first woman to serve in a ministerial post in the 30-year history of the Islamic Revolution.
But there is talk that MPs prefer Lankarani to Dastjerdi because they believe she does not have sufficient experience serving in high-level managerial posts.
Many lawmakers and presidential advisors also believe that Lankarani was one of the most competent ministers in the ninth administration. The president himself has also said that he is proud of Lankarani.
There were rumors that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would also be replaced, but other sources say that senior officials are satisfied with Mottaki and he will thus retain his post for the next four years.
However, insiders have said that the president favors Saeed Jalili, who is currently the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, for the post since the two enjoy an amicable relationship.
At the same time, some media outlets close to the administration have reported that the president may make Ahmad Mousavi the new foreign minister. Mousavi, a cleric diplomat who is currently Tehran’s ambassador to Damascus, attended Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony, which gave momentum to speculation that he will be appointed to a cabinet post.
Unconfirmed reports also said that the job of top diplomat had been offered to former first vice president Parviz Davoudi but he rejected the offer.
In addition, it is said that Rear Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the current director of the IRGC Strategic Center, will replace Mostafa-Mohammad Najar as defense minister.
Earlier, it had been said that Sadeq Mahsouli, who served as interior minister in Ahmadinejad’s first administration for about eight months, was a candidate for the post of defense minister.
However, after the confirmation of Ahmadinejad’s presidency by the Supreme Leader on Monday, Mahsouli told the president that he would not accept any post and added that he just wants to be on the side of the president to help him.