Iran’s Peculiar Election: Where Competition Is a Criminal Offense

The Iranian snap presidential election on June 28 is marked by a series of oddities unfolding before the eyes of indifferent voters.

On Thursday, June 6, former populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a well-known candidate, made an appearance at Tehran's bustling traditional Bazaar. It is one of the best locations to demonstrate that large crowds can gather around a candidate—or anyone else, for that matter.

A video surfaced on social media showing Ahmadinejad amidst a crowd, where a woman approached him, grabbed his hand, and remarked, "You were not that handsome when you were president. You look more beautiful now!" Such a comment would typically land the woman in the back of a Morality Police van, facing club-wielding policewomen in head-to-toe black chadors ready to beat the passion out of her. However, things are different during election times.

Nonetheless, there are things no one can joke with. Guardian Council Secretary, 97-year-old Ahmad Jannati warned on live state TV that "No one shall dare to tell us to endorse or not to endorse any candidate's qualifications." This comes while speaking about the 2013 presidential election in Iran, former Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said that he went to the Guardian Council and told its members to disqualify former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, once the number two man in Iran, who was a candidate in that year.

On Wednesday, Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib warned all presidential candidates at a meeting with top government officials that the ministry monitors all comments and actions by presidential candidates and if needed will refer them to the Judiciary.

Ironically, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who was present there, is a candidate himself. Meanwhile, the fact that one of the candidates is a member of the board that decides about the elections is yet another irony about the Iranian presidential election. Undeniably, his presence there gives him a leverage and insider information that could work to his benefit.

In another development, the Press Supervisory Board told the media that encouraging others to boycott the elections will be a criminal offense. This adds to the intensity of the security situation ahead of the elections. Iranian analyst Jaber Rajabi told Iran International that these security measures are being enforced because officials did not have enough time to prepare for engineering the snap election that followed the death of Iran's former President Ebrahim Raisi.

Meanwhile, repeated calls from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi for candidates and the media to avoid criticizing other candidates or the Raisi government render the elections largely meaningless. Many wonder how candidates can effectively argue their positions on political, economic, cultural, and other issues without demonstrating that their rivals' ideas are less effective. While the only explanation by many candidates who come from within the Raisi administration is that they simply want to continue his plans, it is understandable that for others, the election is about change, and it is hard to advocate change without first proving that there is something wrong with the status quo.

While registering his candidacy, Roads Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash was the only candidate who presented a plan. However, it was soon discovered to be a copy of the plan Raisi had presented at the start of his government in 2021. "Nice cheat!" commented many social media users.

As several of Raisi's cabinet ministers as well as his chief of staff registered their candidacy, many wondered why they could not form a coalition and present a single candidate.

In another similar instance, Deputy Majles Speaker Ali Nikzad and his brother Akbar Nikzad registered their candidacy within an hour of each other. Social media users questioned: "Wasn't there any agreement even within a family? Is the political divide in Iran really that wide and deep?"