IRAN: Approaching sham Election, Escalation of power Struggle in the Clerical Regime and the Resignation of three Ministers

With the mullahs presidential election approaching, infighting and power struggle within the regime has intensified to unprecedented levels. Khamenei, in a document titled "General Election Policies", which was released on October 15, reaffirmed that candidates must be committed to "the revolution and the Islamic republic and the constitution, especially the commitment to velayat-e faqih".

In this document Khamenei pointed to the ban for the armed forces and the intelligence and security apparatus in entering political and partisan campaigns and advocacy for candidates, but mullah Ali Saeedi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), announced the next day, "political science, political vision, political orientation, political views and political activity" is the essence of the IRGC and the “IRGC must take position on the issues of the system and the country” and “must declare its delineation on movements and ideas, and delineation on groups and organizations, and the insider and non-insider fronts”. He added: “IRGC has specific role about security, military, cultural and even economy issues ... we face a government today that in some issues have challenges with the leadership and the principles of Imam... For IRGC it is important that what government is in power or what parliament we have in terms of its structure. It means the structure of the parliament and the government affects the level of sensitivity and mission of the IRGC”.

Political deputy of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Sanai Rad also declared that "the armed forces must pitch in if a party or group deviates.... The necessity of our work is to know parties and groups. Our security and military task also requires this." He added: "Political actors should not create issues that impair the greatness of the armed forces, that is an asset for the whole system.."

In another development, with intensifying crisis within the regime, Rouhani’s Ministers of Education, Guidance, and Sports were forced to resign. Jannati, Minister of Guidance wrote in his resignation letter: “This ministry has been under more attacks than other executive institutions since the beginning and all its activities in a tainted atmosphere have been destroyed by disseminating lies and unjust accusations. As secret think tanks have been determined to destroy all the achievements of the government and show it is inefficient... it is expected that in the next few months these accusations will intensify."

The dimensions of this power struggle are to such degree that Rafsanjani on Tuesday October 18 described “harassments to the 11th government (Rouhani’s government) unprecedented in post-revolution governments” and in an acknowledgment of popular hatred toward the Rouhani government, said: “In the name of criticism, they sabotage and want people to repent from their wise choice."/ NCRI