Which Presidential Candidate Has the Backing of Raisi’s Cabinet?

Five ministers and two vice-presidents are vying for Ebrahim Raisi’s seat. Most ministers, along with the late President’s family, have thrown their support behind Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaili.

Esmaili, 49, is widely considered as the candidate fielded by a political group known as the Meghdad Circle, which has close ties with Raisi’s family. The group is led by Raisi’s son-in-law Meghdad Nili, and his very influential brother Meysam Nili, who is currently an adviser to the Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister.

The Nili brothers were among ardent supporters of the populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 and 2009 elections but have since joined forces with the ultra-hardline Paydari Party, partly made up of former Ahmadinejad officials and supporters.

On Friday, the late President’s family hosted a religious event at a shrine in northern Tehran “with the presence” of Esmaili. Posting an image of the invitation poster, the prominent reformist commentator Abbas Abdi contended in a tweet that this could be taken as a signal of Esmaili’s endorsement by the family.

Esmaili, who is known for his rigidity in cultural matters such as cinema and theater, publishing and hijab, was promoted from obscurity to a ministerial position by Raisi after leading his campaign in 2021.

In 2016 Esmaili was sentenced to five years in prison for receiving bribes during his tenure as deputy governor of Esfahan Province as well 74 lashes and a three-year ban on government service.

Opponents and rivals say his appeal to then Chief Justice Sadegh Amoli-Larijani to order the case to be reviewed by the Supreme Court was declined. Ebrahim Raisi who was appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as Chief Justice in 2019, however, ordered the review which led to Esmaili’s acquittal. There are also claims that there are still some open cases against him.

“Presenting Esmaili as the symbol of Raisi’s government, with such a tarnished record, is a mockery of battle against corruption,” Abdolreza Davari, a former Ahmadinejad confidante, tweeted after the announcement of Esmaili’s candidacy last week.

Political opponents including his hardline rivals say he lacks the experience required for qualification as a presidential candidate compared to most other candidates who are current or former lawmakers or top former officials.

Photo attached to email - Esmaili was accompanied by Executive Vice-President Mohsen Mansouri at the time of his registration

Rumors had been in circulation in Iranian political circles since Wednesday that Esmaili and Mohsen Mansouri, executive vice-president in Raisi’s cabinet, had pressured cabinet officials to sign a letter to the Guardian Council to endorse Esmaili as a “notable government or religious figure”, as the Constitution requires from candidates, to prevent him from being disqualified by the election watchdog.

A leaked letter an image of which is widely circulating on social media indicates that at least sixteen cabinet ministers and officials had signed what they call “a testimony”. The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by the signatories’ condemnation of its revelation and threats of legal prosecution of those behind the leak.

The endorsement letter will put the election watchdog in a very difficult position as Esmaili’s approval, despite his lack of considerable executive experience and given his corruption record, can be interpreted as submission to pressure from the government.

Besides Executive Deputy Mansouri, Government Spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, Chief of the State Administrative Organization Meysam Lotfi, Vice-President in Women’s Affairs Ensieh Khazali, Minister of Oil Javad Owji, Minister of Communications Isa Zare’pour, Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri-Kani, the signatures of nine others are included in the hand-written letter.

Acting President Mohammad Mokhber, the other four ministers who registered to vote as well as Minister of Interior Ahmad Vahidi and Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib whose ministries are directly involved in the elections, Minister of Defense Mohammadreza Ashtiani who is banned by law from interfering in politics, and Minister of Cultural Heritage Ezzatollah Zarghami have not signed Esmaili’s endorsement letter.