Iran's parliament approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's candidate as oil minister on Wednesday, putting a military commander who is under US and EU sanctions in charge of oil and gas in one of the world's biggest crude producers. A majority of lawmakers - 216 of the 246 present - voted for Rostam Qasemi, a Revolutionary Guards commander who headed the elite military body's construction and engineering company, sending a defiant message to Iran's foes.
The vote also signalled an easing of parliament's hostility towards Ahmadinejad after months of accusing him of a power grab before a parliamentary election in March. But critics said it would boost concern about the increasing influence of the Revolutionary Guards, the military force, which has expanded its economic activities in recent years.
Ahmadinejad told parliament Qasemi was a "child of the revolution" with industrial as well as military experience. "He comes to the oil ministry with the mastery and full knowledge of this industry and wants to transform this complex in line with national interests," Ahmadinejad said.
While many lawmakers voiced support for Qasemi, one parliamentarian said his appointment was worrying. "The Revolutionary Guards, as a military power, should not get involved with political and economic power," Ali Motahari, a prominent conservative who is an outspoken critic of Ahmadinejad, told the house.
"Unlike in neighbouring countries where the military is withdrawing from the political arena, a reverse trend has started in our country which does not seem to be an auspicious sign." In a rare intervention, Speaker Ali Larijani, also a critic of the president, spoke out for Qasemi.
Qasemi comes from Khatam al-Anbia, the Guards' company initially set up to conduct infrastructure work after the eight-year war with Iraq that followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It has since executed oil projects worth a total of $25 billion, the official news agency IRNA reported recently, quoting Ahmad Qalebani, managing director of the state National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC).