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Two Candidates Shake Up Iran’s Presidential Race as Last-Minute Entries Two Candidates Shake Up Iran’s Presidential Race as Last-Minute Entries
(about 2 hours later)
TEHRAN — Iran’s presidential campaign took an unexpected turn on Saturday, when two game-changing politicians, both opposed to many of the government’s leaders, entered the race in the final minutes of a five-day registration period. TEHRAN — Iran’s presidential race entered a new, unpredictable phase on Saturday when two game-changing politicians, both out of favor with the country’s leaders, signed up as candidates in the final minutes of a five-day registration period.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accompanied his protégé, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, to the Interior Ministry headquarters in the capital, Tehran, which was cordoned off by security forces keeping hundreds of curious onlookers at bay. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a protégé of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was soundly defeated by Mr. Ahmadinejad during the 2005 presidential election, arrived simultaneously at the Interior Ministry headquarters in the capital, Tehran, to register. The building was cordoned off by security forces restraining hundreds of people, who were shouting slogans in favor of and against Mr. Mashaei.
Mr. Ahmadinejad and Mr. Mashaei arrived simultaneously with former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who, like Mr. Mashaei, had kept analysts wondering whether he would participate in the elections, set for June 14. Both men had kept analysts wondering until the last minute whether they would participate in the elections, set for June 14. If their candidacies are approved by a council of conservative clerics and jurists — a hurdle that analysts say will not be easy — the men are virtually certain to shake up the campaign because they hold views that challenge Iran’s governing establishment, a loose alliance of conservative Shiite Muslim clerics and Revolutionary Guards commanders who hold sway over the country’s judiciary, security forces, Parliament and state news media.
Both men hold views that challenge Iran’s establishment, a loose alliance of conservative Shiite Muslim clerics and Revolutionary Guards commanders who hold sway over the country’s judiciary, Parliament and state news media. The men’s criticisms of those governing behind the scenes will undoubtedly appeal to Iran’s dissatisfied urban voters. But they also strongly oppose each other, setting the stage for a highly contested election if both men win approval to run.
They have called Mr. Mashaei “deviant” because he believes that Muslims can have an individual relationship with God, instead of through clerical intermediaries. They have also warned Mr. Rafsanjani not to run and called him a traitor, accusing him of supporting Iran’s two main opposition leaders, Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Both men ran against Mr. Ahmadinejad in the 2009 elections, and they ended up under house arrest after Mr. Ahmadinejad’s re-election set off widespread protests. Appearing at a news conference with Mr. Ahmadinejad after registering, Mr. Mashaei, 52, said he was set to continue Mr. Ahmadinejad’s international policies, seen by the West as confrontational, and his economic decisions, considered controversial, especially within Iran. He represents a new generation of politicians, defined by the president, who seem set to oust older leaders from power. While once supported by Iran’s political establishment, Mr. Ahmadinejad and his team have now fallen out of grace, mostly because they have accumulated too much influence, analysts say. “Mashaei means Ahmadinejad and Ahmadinejad means Mashaei,” the president said at the news conference.
In a sign of the tensions that will undoubtedly erupt now that Mr. Mashaei is a candidate, a fistfight broke out in the ministry building’s press room. But Mr. Mashaei has been far more outspoken than his mentor on issues like personal freedoms, often stressing individual rights in speeches. He also organized an controversial conference in which a group of dancing women carried around the Koran, provoking anger by conservative clerics.
After a critic of Mr. Mashaei, Mohammad Abyaneh, a former Iranian ambassador to Mexico, accused Mr. Mashaei of placing “pornographic statues” in parks, one supporter shoved all the press microphones off a table and got into a fistfight with another person. “This is Mashaei,” Mr. Abyaneh shouted before he was escorted away. Mr. Rafsanjani, on the other hand, has cast himself as a pragmatic candidate, calling for a more open society and better business relationships with the West. Mr. Rafsanjani, 80, a veteran of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, says Iran is in a “danger zone” because of the “amateurism” of the president and his team. A cleric himself, Mr. Rafsanjani criticizes traditionalist clerics and their supporters for trying to quash all dissenting voices.
After registering, Mr. Mashaei, whose son is married to the president’s daughter, held up his identity card and inked finger, a sign that he had entered his name as a candidate. With Mr. Ahmadinejad standing behind him, he asked those in the room to praise God. Iran faces huge economic problems and continuing strain under international sanctions, and many ordinary citizens feel suffocated by a blanket of security procedures. But on Saturday, neither candidate came up with a plan to address those issues.
“Welcome to the spring of humanity,” Mr. Mashaei said. He apologized for arriving at the last minute but did not explain why, and he did not take any questions. “Mr. Ahmadinejad convinced me that I have to run for the sake of the country,” he said. Mr. Rafsanjani did not talk to reporters, but has recently said he would bring in experienced managers to solve Iran’s problems.
Mr. Mashaei offered full-throated praise for Mr. Ahmadinejad, with whom he has been working for more than two decades. Technically, all Iranians are free to participate in elections, but Iran’s powerful Guardian Council, which vets candidates, will decide by May 23 who will be allowed to run. “I think it is highly doubtful that Mr. Mashaei will be allowed to run,” said Amir Mohebbian, an analyst who is close to Iran’s highest leaders. “I hope we will not witness any street riots when that happens.”
“I will follow his suit,” he said. Even if they are allowed to run, both men are likely to face heavy political resistance from Iran’s establishment in the coming weeks as revenge for rewriting what seemed to have been a prewritten script for the campaign, meant primarily to attract yes men.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, who in the last few months has threatened to release what he calls evidence of corruption by leading clerics and politicians, returned the praise, calling Mr. Mashaei his “dear brother.” The governing establishment has called Mr. Mashaei “deviant” because he believes that Muslims can have an individual relationship with God, instead of only through clerical intermediaries. Its leaders have also warned Mr. Rafsanjani not to run and called him a traitor, accusing him of supporting Iran’s two main opposition leaders, Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Both men ran against Mr. Ahmadinejad in the 2009 elections, and ended up under house arrest after his re-election set off widespread protests.
“I know Mr. Mashaei for 28 years,” he said. “He is a faithful, practicing Muslim and highly competent. He believes in the potential of the Iranian nation. Until Saturday, many ordinary Iranians had largely ignored the coming vote, partly because of their traumatic experiences in 2009, when many protested Mr. Ahmadinejad’s re-election victory as a fraud and were wiped off the streets by security forces. For this round, there did not appear to be any popular candidates to choose from, but with Mr. Mashaei and Mr. Rafsanjani both entering the race, that could change.
“Mashaei means Ahmadinejad, and Ahmadinejad means Mashaei.” “This is very surprising,” said Taha, 26, a former engineering student, who, like others interviewed for this article, asked that his surname not be published. “I will support Mr. Rafsanjani. He can reform our system.”
Mr. Rafsanjani reportedly was at his home most of the day on Saturday, waiting for permission to run from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an ally from the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is unclear whether he was given permission. Others said they would vote for Mr. Mashaei, who became controversial after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a decree in 2009 preventing him from becoming vice president.
Technically, all Iranians are free to participate in elections, but Iran’s powerful Guardian Council, which vets candidates, must decide by May 23 who will be allowed to run. “He seems to be a man who can stand up against those who rule our country,” said Abbas, a taxi driver. “We want change.”
The entry of Mr. Mashaei and Mr. Rafsanjani to the race diminishes the chances of lesser-known candidates, like Mayor Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf of Tehran and Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei. At his news conference, Mr. Mashaei apologized for arriving to register at the last minute but did not explain why, and did not take any questions. Mr. Rafsanjani reportedly waited in his house most of the day Saturday, for permission to run from Ayatollah Khamenei, an ally from the 1979 revolution. It is unclear whether he was given permission.
Iranian journalists, most of them clearly divided along partisan lines, cheered for their favorite candidates as both men entered the ministry building from opposite doors. Iranian journalists, most of them clearly divided along partisan lines, cheered for their favorite candidates as both men entered the building from opposite doors. “Hashemi is here! Thank God, we are saved!” shouted Reza Raeesi, a journalist for the newspaper Arman, which is critical of Mr. Ahmadinejad.
“Hashemi is here! Thank God, we are saved!” shouted Reza Raeesi, a journalist for the newspaper Arman, which is critical of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Mr. Rafsanjani was crushed by Mr. Ahmadinejad in the 2005 elections, and for a long time it seemed as if he no longer played a significant role in Iranian politics.

Ramtin Rastin contributed reporting.