Raisi is Waiting on Approval from Khamenei

Senior cleric Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, a member of both the Expediency Council and Assembly of Experts, said that the delay in Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi on announcing his candidacy is due to him waiting for formal approval from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi is the clear favourite to win the election, and is rumoured to be likely to announce his candidacy on Eid al-Fitr, the official end of Ramadan, which takes place this coming Thursday, in the middle of the nominations period. 

Read more at Khabaronline

Continue reading

Zarif Responds to Khamenei’s Speech

Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif released a statement shortly after Khamenei’s speech went to air, in which he again reiterated his apology for his comments in the audio file, which he added were not meant for public dissemination but part of an oral history project. Zarif added that “the compassionate statements of the Supreme Leader are always the final word for me and my colleagues”. While rumours circulate about Zarif’s future – his resignation, dismissal or even possible impeachment – the Foreign Minister’s statement indicates his intention to keep working in his present role. It is unclear how it will affect any intentions he may have to run for President, especially since the Reform Front named him as their first preferred candidate just hours before Khamenei spoke. 

Read Zarif’s statement at Mehr

Continue reading

Khamenei Publicly Rebukes Zarif

In a public address to the nation, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly rebuked Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif over last week’s leaked audio file in which Zarif criticised former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, which he described as a “repetition of our enemy’s views”. Khamenei reiterated that Soleimani was “martyred” because he upset the plans of Iran’s enemies and added that “we should not talk in a way that makes our enemies happy”.  Khamenei finished with another stern rebuke, saying “everyone must know that foreign policy is not determined in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Iran or anywhere in the world.” 

Watch Khamenei’s address on his website

Continue reading

Leaked Audio Files Dominates News

The leaked Zarif interview dominated news headlines today in Iran. Most media outlets reported it as embarrassing to the Foreign Minister, although some speculated the recordings might help him. Kayhan, the mouthpiece for the Supreme Leader’s Office, was hostile, taking issue with Zarif’s criticisms of IRGC Commander Qasem Soleimani, accusing the interviewer of sedition (he was imprisoned after the 2009 election), and depicting the Foreign Minister as a stooge and sacrificial victim for Western powers. 

Read the Kayhan editorial

Continue reading

Leaked Interview with Zarif

A 3-hour interview with Foreign Minister, and potential candidate, Mohammad-Javad Zarif was leaked today, in which Zarif accuses the Russians of trying to sabotage the JCPOA agreement in 2015. Zarif also ruminates on the competing objectives of his office with the interests of Qasem Soleimani and the Quds Force. Zarif also comments on Ahmadinejad’s attempt to talk to the Americans about nuclear issues without first seeking the permission of the Supreme Leader, adding that “Death to America is just another slogan for Ahmadinejad”. The Foreign Ministry has called the leaked audio “distorted and fragmented”.

Read the key points of the interview at Jamaran.

Continue reading

Representative of the Supreme Leader in the #IRGC backs Javani against Saeed Mohammad

Dr Abdullah Haji Sadeghi, who represents the #SupremeLeader in the IRGC, today said that "the armed forces do not enter politics in any way" and the task of the IRGC was to protect the revolution and the Islamic system, and make our enemies of aware of that". In what is clearly an attack on #SaeedMohammad, Sadeghi singled out Commander Javani for praise. Javani recently accused Mohammad of being fired from the IRGC for bringing the corps into disrepute. These statements were published in Fars, an IRGC linked newspaper that has so far been hostile to Saeed Mohammad.

Read more on Fars

Continue reading

Supreme Leader asked Hassan Khomeini not to run in elections

Hassan Khomeini stated today that the Supreme Leader had asked him not to run for President, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency. The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini said that he had been encouraged by many Iranians who consider him the only one able to unite the country, but he had waited until he had spoken to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, about the issue. Khomeini that Khamenei addressed him as his son, and said it was not appropriate for him to run at this time.

Read more on ILNA

Continue reading

Davari: Ahmadinejad considers himself as “God’s Guardian” and the “Yeltsin of Iran”

Abdol-Reza Davari, a journalist and former insider to Ahmadinejad’s administration, has turned on Ahmadinejad in recent years and today gave an outline of some of the former President’s behaviour which he deemed detrimental to the country. In an interview, he stated that the environment in Ahmadinejad’s inner circle was cult like, with no criticism allowed of the President, and that Ahmadinejad believed that the Islamic Republic would soon collapse, and he would be the Yeltsin of Iran. Davari also commented on Ahmadinejad’s “Mahdism”, where he sought to create the impression that he had a special relationship with the Mahdi as a strategy to undermine the religious authority of the Supreme Leader and the ideology of velayat-e faqih.

Read more on Entekhab

Continue reading

Faezeh Hashemi: I Prefer to Debate Mr Khamenei

Faezeh Hashemi, one of the only women to declare intention to run, declared in an interview that she would prefer to debate the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on domestic politics, as opposed to other potential candidates. In the same interview, she also questioned the democratic intentions of both the Reformists and Principalists, and criticised the harassment of women by the Ansar-e Hezbollah group.

Watch the video on Independent Persian

Continue reading

Khamenei delivers Nowruz speech, calls on Iranians to “strengthen Iran” through elections

The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, in his annual new year address, stated that every Iranian, “even those who may not accept the [country’s] leadership” should participate in this year’s election in the name of strengthening Iran. Khamenei argued that Iran’s enemies, namely the US and Israel, were attempting to disrupt the elections by encouraging non-participation, and he expressed his hope that the people will vote in order to demonstrate their rejection of Iran’s enemies. Khamenei also warned potential candidates that “the election must be a symbol of national unity, and not a symbol of bipartisanship, division and bipolarity”.

Watch the Video on Khamenei.IR

Continue reading