Iran reformists reject Khatami ministerial candidate

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TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iranian President Mohammad Khatami suffered a parliamentary defeat on Tuesday when lawmakers normally loyal to his program of reforms rejected a ministerial candidate as allegedly incompetent.

The blow came days after one of Khatami's ministers tendered his resignation under pressure from hardline conservatives.

Parliament voted 117-99 to reject Nasrollah Jahagerd's appointment to the telecommunications ministry of which he has been acting head since June. New ministers must receive a vote of confidence in parliament before taking up their duties.

Most deputies who spoke against Jahagerd were members of Khatami's reformist camp swept to power in parliamentary elections in February. Many were upset about alleged mismanagement and the poor state of the mobile telephone network.

"We support Khatami, but we can't support his ministers who are supposed to be capable managers and are not," MP Iraj Nadimi told reporters after the debate.

Khatami was elected in 1997 promising to reform the Islamic Republic. But with little to show for his pledges and elections looming in May, he is squeezed between his own youthful constituency impatient for change and the conservative establishment.

Conservatives appeared to score a victory with the resignation offer of Ataollah Mohajerani, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, their favorite target for attacks in recent months because they consider him too liberal.

A government official told Reuters that Mohajerani had offered his resignation, but Khatami told him to re-draft and moderate it before it would be accepted.

"The letter was 50 pages long, citing all the different issues which have forced him to resign," said the official. "But it wasn't accepted in that form and he was told to re-draft it."

The conservative campaign began in April, and since then about 25 newspapers supportive of Khatami have been banned and a number of journalists jailed.

Conservative newspapers have been baying for Mohajerani's blood, saying his ministry was to blame for allowing the liberal press to flourish and not stamping out "Westoxification" in books and cinema.

Khatami has tried to shield Mohajerani from the attacks.

The official said that Mohajerani planned to resubmit his resignation after an Islamic conference of ministers of tourism ended on Wednesday.

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