TEHRAN (Reuters) - A conservative member of Iran’s parliament said Monday there was a “high possibility” it would approve President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s proposed new oil minister in a vote of confidence due later this week.

In another sign of support for the nominated new Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi, who has little direct experience of the sector, and two senior energy officials praised his “strategic” outlook.
Parliament must approve Ahmadinejad’s 21-member cabinet in voting scheduled for Wednesday and some deputies have criticized the hardline president for nominating several ministers without the necessary experience, including Mirkazemi.
Despite skepticism expressed by some other MPs, lawmaker Vali Esmaili said members of parliament’s majority conservative faction had been “convinced on the abilities and programs” presented by Mirkazemi, the Oil Ministry website SHANA said.
“There is a high possibility that he will get the confidence vote 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 Gholam-Hossein Nozari as oil minister was a surprise move by Ahmadinejad, as he submitted a list of his new cabinet to parliament on August 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 US and U.N. sanctions, imposed because of a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. The West suspects Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons while Iran says its program is exclusively for peaceful power generation.
At the start of a three-day parliamentary debate Sunday, Ahmadinejad praised Mirkazemi as a “pure and committed person” who had been a successful manager and commerce minister.
Mirkazemi also received backing from Reza Kasaeizadeh, managing director of the state National Iranian Gas Export Company, and Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, a deputy oil minister.
“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,” Kasaeizadeh was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The official IRNA news agency said Ghanimifard agreed with Mirkazemi’s “strategic” outlook. “I also entered the oil sector from outside the field ... there must be people chosen whose most important preoccupation is sincere service,” 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.