Speculation rose today that number of disqualified candidates may be parachuted into the role of Mayor of Tehran, with Saeed Mohammad at the top of the list. The rumoured names also included Hossein Dehghan and Rostam Ghasemi both of whom, like Saeed Mohammad, have given their support to Ebrahim Raisi since standing down or being disqualified. Local council elections will take place throughout Iran on the same day as the Presidential election.
IRGC candidate Rostam Ghasemi has sent a letter to the Guardian Council announcing he is standing down as a candidate. Unlike other candidates, Ghasemi did not stand aside in favour of Ebrahim Raisi.
Six of the 592 candidates who nominated between May 11 and May 15, all of whom are high-profile are on United States or European Union sanctions lists. Frontrunner Ebrahim Raisi tops the list, alongside Fereydoun Abbasi, Hossein Dehghan, Abol-Hassan Firuzabadi, Rostam Ghasemi and Ezatollah Zarghami.
Senior IRGC officer and former Petroleum Minister Rostam Ghasemi was another high-profile candidate to register today. Ghasemi, who is on an EU sanctions list owing to his position in the IRGC, has had a colourful campaign so far, having been the target of an attempted assassination in Lebanon in March, and calling the Foreign Ministry unpatriotic in April after it disputed claims that he made about Iran’s support for the Houthis in Yemen.
IRGC officer Rostam Ghasemi officially announced his candidacy today, after more than a month of campaigning, stating that he would focus on fixing Iran’s economic problems and that he was ready “to make Iran proud”. Ghasemi is a controversial figure; an Oil Minister under Ahmadinejad, he is on an EU sanctions list, was the target of an apparent assassination attempt in Lebanon in March, and recently involved himself in a war of words with the Foreign Ministry regarding the extent of the IRGC presence in Yemen.
Conservative candidate Rostam Ghasemi told Tasnim that if elected he would be a President for all Iranians, not just his supporters. Ghasemi also reiterated his slogan regarding candidates who lack experience in the Executive Branch of government: “If you have never sailed, how can you manage the ship of the Iranian economy?” Ghasemi also played down his connections to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating that he expects the former president to be a candidate, and added that he had along with other “military candidates” about not destroying each other’s reputations.
Rumours began circulating on social media yesterday that an assassination attempt was made against senior IRGC advisor, Rostam Qasemi, during a visit to Lebanon. His son Morteza, using his father’s Twitter account, confirmed the attempt, saying his father was unharmed and will continue his official visit in Lebanon. Preliminary reports are accusing Israel.