Iranian Hardliners At Loggerheads Over Parliament Leadership
Less than two weeks after the lackluster elections in Iran, hardliners who have claimed victory find themselves embroiled in a contentious battle over the speakership of the parliament.
Less than two weeks after the lackluster elections in Iran, hardliners who have claimed victory find themselves embroiled in a contentious battle over the speakership of the parliament.
The struggle for this coveted position commenced months prior to the next parliament's convening. Meanwhile, due to the remarkably low turnout in the capital, more than half of the lawmakers representing Tehran are yet to be determined in April, as many candidates failed to secure at least 20 percent of the total votes in the city.
Amidst this lull, several politicians are fiercely vying for the opportunity to occupy the prestigious Speaker's green seat. Among the most ardent contenders is the incumbent Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who perceives his presence in the Majles (parliament) as inconsequential unless he assumes the role of Speaker.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has at least twice warned the winners of the election to avoid controversies and attacks on each other. However, with his influence waning, the power struggle persists both within and outside the parliament. It appears that he has relinquished the idea of intervening in the matter, once being the ultimate authority on all issues. While he continues to express his viewpoints, there seems to be a lack of receptiveness from others to heed his counsel.
However, Some media outlets in Iran contend that a last-minute intervention, often referred to as "blessings in disguise," by Khamenei could aid Ghalibaf in retaining his position. Despite experiencing a significant decline in popularity among voters, with his 2024 vote count dropping to around 400,000 compared to over 1.2 million in 2020, Ghalibaf may still benefit from Khamenei's support. This perspective is underscored by his staunch political rival, the fundamentalist Hamid Rasaei.
Other contenders for the position include ultraconservative Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of the Paydari Party and a prominent anti-US figure, who garnered the highest number of votes. Additionally, there's Morteza Agha-Tehrani, another influential member of Paydari. Former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is also in the running, speculated by the press to capitalize on the rivalry among ultraconservatives.
Leading up to the election, Ghalibaf faced a significant smear campaign from his rivals, aided by conservative propagandist Ali-Akbar Raefipour, who reintroduced Rasaei to the political arena after four years of isolation. Meanwhile, Ghalibaf finds himself with minimal support in the new parliament, as all his aides must participate in the run-off election before they can exert any influence.
Ghalibaf is expected to vie for the Speaker position without relinquishing all other positions at the presidium of the parliament to Paydari, as he did in the previous Parliament. However, Paydari's influence and astuteness have increased since 2020. Ghalibaf's prospects for this position rely heavily on whether Khamenei, as both a relative and an old ally, is capable and willing to support him. In the meantime, while Rasaei spent Saturday lobbying at the parliament, some of the new members of the Majles appear to be adamant to reject his credentials when the new legislature convenes. In short, the hardline winners have never been as divided as they are now.
Conservative newspapers including Khorasan, Farhikhtegan and Kayhan, joined the IRGC-linked Javan daily to attack Rasaei, but he is still defiant and continues campaigning against Ghalibaf alongside his fundamentalist patrons.
The conflict, at the same time, reveals younger politicians' competition with the old guard. Relatively younger MPs such as Rasaei wish to bring about a change in the government's rigid structure and to open their way to financial resources and political power. That is unlikely to happen unless Khamenei chooses to allow them access to power.
Many in Iran await his traditional [Iranian] New Year address on March 20 to look for a change and a roadmap out of the current and other long-standing crises.
In a commentary in Etemad newspaper and his own Telegram channel, veteran reformist commentator Emadeddin Baghi pointed out that "the low turnout in the recent election had a clear message for Iranian officials [including Khamenei], which has not been taken seriously by them. Ignoring that message will have fateful and punishing repercussions."
The video, viewed over 100,000 times on X, has once again heightened public uproar over the regime’s treatment of women.
The footage, captured by the clinic's CCTV, depicts a young woman holding her sick baby – with her hijab sitting on her shoulders as she waits in a secluded area. A cleric is seen covertly using his cell phone to photograph or record the woman, presumably to document her alleged violation of hijab regulations.
When she notices, the woman quickly hands her baby to a nearby individual and confronts the cleric, insisting on inspecting his phone to delete the footage – likely out of concern that it could lead to charges for violating the hijab law. When the cleric refuses it leads to a larger confrontation and a scuffle as bystanders intervene.
Hasan Gharib, the public prosecutor of Qom province, said Tuesday that four people were detained with three of them sent to prison. He did not elaborate on the charges or why only three of the individuals were imprisoned.
In past instances, individuals who exposed corruption or shared information with foreign-based media outlets have frequently been accused of "spreading misinformation" and "disturbing public order." These charges entail a potential penalty of up to five years in prison.
The woman and the four detained men remain unidentified, while authorities have not officially named the cleric involved. Unverified online reports suggest the cleric may be Mohamamd Esmaili, purportedly a Quran reciter.
Gharib stated that upon initial investigation by law enforcement and security agencies, it was found that these individuals wanted to exploit the incident to incite discord and tension in society by sharing the footage with an “opposition channel”.
Claiming that the tension and conflict in the clinic had previously been resolved through mediation and mutual consent, he said that shortly after the incident, the footage was edited and sent to Iran International by these four people.
Earlier in the day, Gharib’s deputy, Rouhollah Moslemkhani, similarly described the altercation as "a scheme planned to sow discord in society” and that "the case has been handed over to the Intelligence Ministry ''.
Iran International receives thousands of texts and multimedia messages from its audience in Iran on a daily basis. Iran International does not have a correspondent in the country since the regime in Tehran considers the channel as an enemy of the state.
In these types of cases, regime authorities often target and penalize the women themselves, as well as individuals who share such incidents with Iranian media outlets abroad, perceived as a threat to the Islamic Republic's reputation.
“It is necessary to point out that the error of the person who sent the video to anti-revolutionary media should not be overlooked. This calls for intelligence work and action that will teach [such people] a lesson,” Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), wrote Sunday.
Iran’s clerical rulers encourage citizens to confront and report women who refuse to wear the hijab. This has led to cases where individuals film women to provide evidence for legal action by the authorities.
In September 2023, 29-year-old Elham Farshad, who had a verbal altercation with a cleric harassing her for not wearing a hijab, was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison after a video of the incident was leaked on social media.
In a similar incident in December 2021, a woman in Qom was arrested after confronting a cleric who reprimanded her for her hijab.
The intensified enforcement of hijab regulations comes in the wake of widespread protests in Iran following the death of Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022, an incident for which the UN now holds the regime responsible. Amini's arrest and death in Tehran for defying the Islamic Republic's mandatory hijab sparked the largest uprising against the regime in recent years.
Since then, women nationwide have been actively defying the mandatory hijab, leading to a heightened presence of hijab enforcers and the so-called morality police in public spaces, including subway stations. Additional surveillance cameras have also been installed in many locations across the country, to identify and apprehend individuals who violate hijab regulations.