Gulf News
Editorial
The conservatives in Iran are using the presidential election to make sure that their harsh message is heard loud and clear. The isolationist backers have an extreme vision of Iran’s mission and continue to want to spread its revolution across the region, as is still stated in the constitution of the Islamic republic. The surprise announcement from former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he wants to stand for president is part of this process, although he still has to pass the vetting process of the Council of Guardians. This approval is not all a sure thing given Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei’s earlier resistance to Ahmadinejad’s standing, and it is all very well for Ahmadinejad to say when he put his name forward that “Khamanei’s advice was not a ban”, but the Guardians have to agree with this position as well.
Up till now the principle right-wing challenger has been Ebrahim Raisi, who is a close ally of Khamanei and the candidate around whom the conservative grouping the Principalists have coalesced. When he announced his candidacy it was a surprise as he was seen as one of the possible contenders to be the next Supreme Leader, which is a higher position than president.
But despite all the noise from the right, the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani still has a strong position, even though the economic benefits of ending the international sanctions after his nuclear deal have not materialised. The far right of the Resistance Front were infuriated by the deal, and regard it as a betrayal of Iran’s sovereignty. But over the past 15 years of presidential elections, candidates from the Resistance Front have not got more than between 10 and 20 per cent of the electorate, and they have scored at the low end of that range when the Principalists have united around a major figure as they have done with Raisi.
In addition, the far right have the complication that they have far too many serious candidates. Amhadinejad’s former deputy Hamid Baghaie was their front-runner until Ahmadinejad popped up, and they are currently joined by three-times candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran.
Elections in Iran are very changeable till the last minute, with candidates dropping out or being told to drop out, who then nominate their support to others. But what is clear is that the right wing wants to challenge Rouhani and shore up its aggressive message to the outside world.
