A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who ordered live rounds to be used against student protesters has entered the presidential race as authorities try to squeeze moderates out of the election.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, an ex-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) air forces, will be among the candidates to succeed president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month.
Ghalibaf became the speaker of the parliament following a series of unsuccessful presidential bids and a 12-year tenure as the mayor of Tehran.
He is also widely known for his controversial past as an IRGC general. He supported a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999 and ordered live gunfire to be used against students during his tenure as the country’s police chief in 2003.
The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has grown increasingly influential as hardliners have become more powerful in Iran.
The IRGC has spread Iranian influence abroad and has been accused of carrying out assassinations and attacks on foreign soil, including in Britain.
‘Appoint from the armed forces’
A snap election is set for June 28, and efforts are under way to give the presidential seat to a commander from the IRGC for the first time, according to current members of the IRGC and confirmed by former Iranian officials familiar with the matter who spoke to The Telegraph.
“There are ongoing high-level efforts within the establishment to appoint someone from the armed forces,” a member of the IRGC said.
Senior figures at the IRGC have been evaluating their choices from among both former and current commanders over the past two weeks.
“It’s very likely that the regime will pave the way for Ghalibaf,” a former official at Iran’s interior ministry told The Telegraph from Tehran, who requested anonymity as it is taboo and risky to publicly discuss leadership changes.
“Outside the leader’s office has been very busy in recent days.”
“Dehghan is playing a big role in making sure the next president comes from the IRGC,” he said, referring to Hossein Dehghan, another influential commander of the IRGC, former defence minister and Khamenei’s military adviser.
“People close to him are on the move outside the leader’s office and are contacting everyone they know to influence the leader and the Guardian Council,” the official added.
Iranian candidates running for any election must be vetted and approved by the 12-member Guardian Council. Six of them are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader, while the remaining six are nominated by the head of the judiciary and approved by the parliament. The head of the judiciary is directly appointed by Ali Khamenei.
Commanders of the IRGC are also said to be trying to block the bid of a hardliner they believe is “too fundamentalist”.
The candidacy of Saeed Jalili, a staunch opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal with the West, has prompted commanders to contact individuals within Khamenei’s office to block his bid.
“Commanders are trying to prevent Jalili, who they believe is too hardline and will exacerbate the situation,” a member of the IRGC told The Telegraph.
Mr Jalili served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2007 to 2013, leading Tehran’s nuclear talks that led to no conclusion.
The Telegraph has obtained a letter circulating among Iranian fundamentalists, urging Mr Jalili to run for the presidency.
“We, a group of your supporters from Iran, invite you to participate in the upcoming presidential elections,” the letter reads.
In the 2021 presidential elections, he endorsed Raisi, after withdrawing just days before election day.
He is one of Ayatollah Khamenei’s two representatives on the supreme national security council and a member of the expediency discernment council, an administrative body whose members are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader.
“I wanted to continue negotiating while advancing the nuclear programme,” Mr Jalili told a group of students recently. “They would ask us to stop our nuclear programme, and I would reply, why? It is our right and it will not happen.”
Close relations with Khamenei
Mr Jalili joined the Islamic Republic in 1989 after securing a job in the foreign ministry. He lost one of his legs during the Iran-Iraq War and maintains close relations with Ayatollah Khamenei.
“People close to Ghalibaf are worried and do not want a Jalili-led administration and are contacting everyone they know to block Jalili,” the former interior ministry official said.
The death of Raisi, known as the “Butcher of Tehran” after being held responsible for thousands of dissidents’ deaths comes at a tense moment for the Middle East. The prospect of an Iranian president from the IRGC is likely to escalate the tensions.
The region is grappling with the consequences of a mushrooming war that has galvanised Iran-backed militant groups, which are controlled by the IRGC, to exchange fire with the Israeli military or engage in attacks that have sent ripple effects across the globe.
Raisi won Iran’s closely stage-managed last presidential election in 2021.
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