BEHIND THE IRAN HEADLINES Series, June 12, 2024, Alireza Jafarzadeh, NCRI-US Deputy Director
Over the weekend, the Iranian regime’s Guardian Council disqualified over 70 candidates for the June 28th so-called election to replace its mass-murderer president, Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19th.
This electoral fiasco reflects the unprecedented disarray within the regime. Among those disqualified are a former president, a former parliament speaker, several ministers and deputy ministers, a few members of parliament, and a member of the office of the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
The six approved candidates are a “Who’s Who” of officials directly involved in human rights violations, corruption, terrorism, and warmongering over the past four decades. Three of the most notorious candidates are:
- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf: The current Speaker of the Majlis, a former commander of the IRGC and State Security Forces, has boasted about playing a major role in suppressing major protests. As mayor of Tehran, he was deeply involved in the corruption and lawlessness that plagued Tehran’s municipality. He was a close associate of the eliminated Qassem Soleimani.
- Mostafa Pourmohammadi: Disqualified by the Guardian Council in the last March elections, he was a notorious culprit of the 1988 massacre along with Raisi. He has proudly taken credit for his role in the massacre, which Amnesty International describes as a crime against humanity, where 30,000 political prisoners, over 90% of them affiliated with the main opposition, the MEK, were executed in just several months.
- Saeed Jalili: Known for his unwavering loyalty to Ali Khamenei and his extreme stance on foreign affairs, Jalili continues to influence Tehran’s strategic decisions on both domestic and international fronts.
Although none of these candidates come close to filling the gap left by Raisi’s death for Khamenei, their selection shows that the regime remains genocidal and warmongering but more crisis-riddled and less cohesive. This potentially creates a more fertile ground for uprisings and regime change.