Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is supposedly out of the race for President of Iran, but that apparently doesn’t mean he can’t meddle via the candidacy of one of his aides – in revenge on the conservatives who once supported him. Rohollah Faghihi reports in AL Monitor:
During his second term (2009-13), Ahmadinejad repeatedly appointed figures and adopted policies that were considered to be against the views of the supreme leader. As such, conservatives who were once supporters of Ahmadinejad turned against him and labeled his entourage — and especially his senior aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei — as the “deviation current.” Indeed, conservatives demanded the dismissal of Mashaei, who was believed to have “deviated the thoughts of Islam,” but Ahmadinejad strongly resisted these calls, saying, “Mashaei means Ahmadinejad, and Ahmadinejad means Mashaei.” …
It is believed that [Ahmadinejad aide] Baghaei’s candidacy is Ahmadinejad’s plan to take revenge on his former friends in the conservative camp by splitting their vote.
Apparently Baghaei’s candidacy is given little chance to succeed, but this was true of the Ahmadinejad run in 2005 as well – and he won. On the other hand, accusations of election rigging are not uncommon, and even credible, so Baghaei’s results may depend more on who he knows than his appeal to voters. Iranian conservatives – particularly leaders – will need to read the tea leaves with great care, otherwise if Baghaei does win, they will face a bitter victory, as they’d risk being shut out of power.
