Eshaq Jahangiri Kouhshahi, 63, is the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani’s government. After two terms as a member of Parliament, and five years as governor of Isfahan province, Jahangiri became Minister of Industries and Mines under the Presidency of Mohammad Khatami up to 2005.
Jahangiri is from the so-called “Reformist” faction and is one of the founders of the Executives of Construction Party. He is currently a member of the party’s central council. He is also a member of the BARAN Foundation headed by Mohammad Khatami. He was also a member of Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign in the 2009 presidential election and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s campaign manager in the 2013 presidential election.
Despite boasting a “Reformist” badge, Jahangiri was close friends with the eliminated Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani. The two worked for hand in glove during Jahangiri’s term in the construction Jihad in Kerman province and Soleimani’s days there as part of the Kerman Revolutionary Guards.
Jahangiri is a part of the Iranian regime’s corrupt financial oligarchy. Apart from two brothers who were killed during the Iran-Iraq war serving the IRGC, his two other brothers are also involved in regime financial and political agencies. His younger brother, Mehdi Jahangiri, was the head of the Tourism Finance Group and the deputy head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, before his arrest in October 2017 and later conviction on charges of currency smuggling. A journalist named Fariborz Kalantari attempting to report on the Jahangiri family’s corruption was sentenced to three years in prison, 74 lashes, and fines.
Background
Iran’s regime will hold its sham presidential elections on June 18. While many try to portray the mullahs’ sham elections as a sign of the regime’s democracy, it is necessary to take an in-depth look at the procedures and rules of the so-called elections in the regime
Article 115 of the regime’s Constitution and Article 35 of the election law set the threshold for Presidential candidates to Muslim males, faithful to the “Islamic Republic”, and with practical belief and commitment to the principle of the velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule). The unelected and handpicked Guardian Council recently added further exclusions in a tactical adjustment to further disqualify and curtail potentially troublesome candidates from the self-proclaimed “Reformist” camp in the upcoming elections.
The Guardian Council has 12 members, six clerics, and six jurists. Khamenei appoints the six clerics, and the Judiciary Chief, whom Khamenei appoints, picks the six jurists. So, in effect, all Council members are chosen by the Supreme Leader.