Ahmadinejad's heir blocked by clerics in humiliating blow to Iranian president

WSJ

A rush of conservative establishment candidates left a noticeable gap in the political contest as Mr Ahmadinejad's camp failed to nominate a candidate.

Mr Ahmadinejad has a reputation as a hardliner abroad - partly as a result of his vows to wipe Israel off the map - but at home he has incurred the wrath of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who sees him as a dangerous radical.

The Iranian president, who was re-elected in a rigged ballot in 2009 to a second term, has made no secret that his chosen heir is Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a relative and former chief of staff.

Having a chosen protege in power could be crucial to Mr Ahmadinejad's future following a chorus of calls from prominent members of parliament and the judiciary for his arrest for abuse of power. "Ahmadinejad will not so easily relinquish his power after having secured it over the last eight years. His ultimate plan is to see Rahim Mashaei would succeed him as the president so he himself would not lose his position within the political system," Sadeq Ziba Kalam, a Tehran University political analyst told the reformist Sharq newspaper.

But with the registered candidates facing final vetting by a clerical panel, the Guardian Council, political analysts believe Mr Mashaie stands next to no chance of making it through to the election.
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As a result the final field will be made up of a handful of establishment figures with close ties to the Ayatollah Khamenei, who holds ultimate power under the country's Islamic constitution.

More than 20 politicians have announced their intention to run, state-run Press TV reported as hundreds of Iranians registered at an Interior Ministry building in Tehran.

The registration closes at the end of the week and the Guardian Council will announce a final list of candidates on Saturday.

"Candidates must in their hearts have a belief in the Islamic Republic system and its constitution," said Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, a spokesman for the Guardian Council, said. "If the Council doesn't see that, it will not approve them. Perhaps some errors have been committed in the past."

Among the front runners signing up was Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior acolyte of Ayatollah Khamenei; Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran; and Hassan Rowhani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator and a protege of former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. "There is a narrowed political space and the competition is within the conservative group," said Henry Smith, Middle East and North Africa analyst at Control Risks consultancy. "It's a case of individuals clubbing together to try and see who looks like he will have a better shot at it."

After a turbulent eight years under Mr Ahmadinejad, there are signs however that the Iranian leadership is contemplating moves to lessen its isolation under a new president.

Mr Rowhani declared he wanted a government of "prudence" that could reach a compromise with the West over its nuclear programme, so that UN sanctions that have crippled the economy can be eased or lifted.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the failed challenger in the 2009 election, made the same argument in his presidential campaign. However he is now under house arrest four years after his followers staged mass demonstrations that were brutally put down.