TEHRAN President Mohammad Khatami in a letter to the Islamic Consultative Assembly here Wednesday proposed five new ministers to fill vacant seats in his cabinet.

They are ministers of the newly established agriculture jihad, industries and mines, culture and Islamic guidance, PTT (post, telegraph and telephone), and roads and transportation ministries.

In his letter, President Khatami proposed Mahmoud Hojjati as the new minister of agriculture jihad, Es'haq Jahangiri as industries and mines minister, and Ahmad Masjed-Jame'i as culture and Islamic guidance minister.

He also proposed Ahmad Mo'tamedi as the new PTT minister and Rahman Dadman as the new roads and transport minister. According to an informed source, Khatami has been facing an uphill battle in reaching a consensus in the 2nd Khordad regarding the introduced ministers, for the largest group in the Parliament, Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP), has been pressuring Khatami to give in to its candidates for the cabinet. For instance, Dadman was handpicked only because he is a member of the IIPP. He was on the staff of the Construction Jihad Ministry, and went to England for his studies a few years ago. After his return he was appointed head of the State Railway. Experts believe that his experience is not sufficient for the rank of minister, but Khatami was pressured to introduce him by the IIPP. When Mo'tamedi was the head of the Scientific Research Organization of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research he had no spectacular achievements on his report card. Likewise, Hojjati does not have a marvelous record, while he has been given a bigger and more complex ministry. He should first present his report to the nation about his achievements in his previous ministry in order to convince the public about his competence.

The IIPP even tried to eliminate any chance of a member of the Executives of Construction Party entering the cabinet, but Jahangiri was picked up because of his competence and his past record in Isfahan.

In separate decrees the president temporarily appointed Rahman Dadman, Mahmoud Hojjati and Es'haq Jahangiri as the caretakers of the ministries of roads and transportation, agriculture jihad and industries and mines, respectively.

President Khatami in separate decrees thanked former ministers Gholamreza Shafe'i and Mohammad Saeidikia for their services and appointed them as his advisers.