Battle for Iran’s Soul: Iranian Election Thread
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:06 pm
In June of this year, Iran will hold its Presidential elections. Both reformers and hardliners are will be watching the election and the months leading up to it intently. Many hardliners hoped that if Trump had won the election, the Iran Nuclear Deal would have been lost forever, several hurting the reformist’s chances at dominance. One thing all of Iran’s hardliners agree on: Reformist government has to go.
A familiar face might win the presidency: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president for two terms, and constantly faced heavy sanctions due to Iran’s nuclear program. Despite this, a poll of over 1,000 Iranians by Stasis out him as the favorite with 37% of those polled expressing a favorable opinion of him.
Many Iranians who support reformist ideals may be disheartened, as Rouhani failed to follow through on many campaign promises, such as appointing women to his cabinet.
Whoever wins in June will shake Middle Eastern politics one way or another. And things are not looking good for the reformists: last year, most of them were replace by hardliners in Iran’s parliament. A hardliner in power would also certainly negatively affect Sunni Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and atheists in Iran, as it would only strengthen Iran’s Shiā favoritism.
Let’s go into each choice:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Former President of Iran, he took a hardline stance, and governed under ínstense sanctions for his nuclear program.
Hossein Dehghan: A former officer of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, he is an aide of Khamenei and served as Minister Defense for Rouhani from 2013-2017.
Fereydoon Abbasi: Abbasi is a current member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. He, an Iranian nuclear scientist, survived an assassination attempt in 2010.
Hassan Sobhani: He was not approved for his election bid in 2017, but is a candidate this time round. He was a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Mohammad Gharazi: A previous Minister of Information and Communications and Technology, former Minister of Petroleum, and former governor of Khuzestan. He received nearly half a million votes in 2013, and is trying his luck again.
Mostafa Kavakebian: Former Islamic Consultative Assembly member, he is now the candidate for the Democracy Party.
Mohammad-Ali Afshani: He was Mayor of Tehran (Iran’s capitol), and is the National Trust Party’s candidate.
A familiar face might win the presidency: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad served as Iran’s president for two terms, and constantly faced heavy sanctions due to Iran’s nuclear program. Despite this, a poll of over 1,000 Iranians by Stasis out him as the favorite with 37% of those polled expressing a favorable opinion of him.
Many Iranians who support reformist ideals may be disheartened, as Rouhani failed to follow through on many campaign promises, such as appointing women to his cabinet.
Whoever wins in June will shake Middle Eastern politics one way or another. And things are not looking good for the reformists: last year, most of them were replace by hardliners in Iran’s parliament. A hardliner in power would also certainly negatively affect Sunni Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and atheists in Iran, as it would only strengthen Iran’s Shiā favoritism.
Let’s go into each choice:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Former President of Iran, he took a hardline stance, and governed under ínstense sanctions for his nuclear program.
Hossein Dehghan: A former officer of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, he is an aide of Khamenei and served as Minister Defense for Rouhani from 2013-2017.
Fereydoon Abbasi: Abbasi is a current member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. He, an Iranian nuclear scientist, survived an assassination attempt in 2010.
Hassan Sobhani: He was not approved for his election bid in 2017, but is a candidate this time round. He was a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Mohammad Gharazi: A previous Minister of Information and Communications and Technology, former Minister of Petroleum, and former governor of Khuzestan. He received nearly half a million votes in 2013, and is trying his luck again.
Mostafa Kavakebian: Former Islamic Consultative Assembly member, he is now the candidate for the Democracy Party.
Mohammad-Ali Afshani: He was Mayor of Tehran (Iran’s capitol), and is the National Trust Party’s candidate.