IranPolitik

Since former President Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani entered the 2013 Iranian presidential election, many have debated the significance of this move. One must be skeptical of his chances of winning if he is allowed to participate in the election and his ability to rule if he is elected. But could he be disqualified, even before the formal campaign has begun? To some it may seem that the chances of an elder statesman like Hashemi-Rafsanjani being disqualified by the Council of Guardians from running in the 2013 election is remote. Yet rumblings by hardliners over the last several days should give observers reason for doubt. Their lines of attack have [...]

2013 Iranian presidential election candidate-registrant Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf has tried to steer a course between hardliners and moderates. Ghalibaf recognizes that there are two potential source of power that he can appeal to if he is to have a chance at winning the presidency: The Islamic Republic’s hardline political establishment which includes Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on one hand and moderate Iranian voters on the other. We here at IranPolitik contend that at least since the 2009 Iranian presidential election, if not earlier, the hardline establishment has been a more important source of power. Regardless, by navigating a steady course between [...]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s game of chicken with hardliners As the 2013 Iranian presidential election campaign heats up the question of what role President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei will play has become a topic of increasing media scrutiny both inside and outside Iran. Many believe that Ahamdinejad’s ongoing provincial tours, among his myriad of other recent actions, are intended to mobilize support for Mashaei in the upcoming 14 June vote. Neo-Principalists, the hardline elements of the Islamic Republic, have however labeled Mashaei and his supporters the “deviant current” and threatened to confront them should they make a bid for the election. Addressing his and Mashaei’s detractors [...]

INTRODUCTION The 2013 Iranian presidential election began in earnest this February with the emergence of the first candidates. A recent Fars News Agency report from mid-March now gives us our first look at this election cycle’s crop of candidates, 24 in all, competing to becoming Iran’s next president. Although the actual field of candidates is wider, the Fars News list gives us a good idea of candidates who are actually considered to be within the Islamic Republic’s political establishment and may have a chance of participating. Candidates such as expatriate Professor Houshang Amirahmadi, who has recently gained international attention for announcing his candidacy for the election, have a [...]