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Today, as the new Majlis (Iranian regime’s Parliament) began its second working day, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was re-assigned as Speaker. According to the regime’s parliamentary formalities, Ghalibaf secured 198 votes, ensuring his position as the head of the 12th Parliament for another year until the next internal elections.
On May 27, Ali Khamenei, the regime’s Supreme Leader, issued a message read by his representative, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, in the Parliament session. Khamenei urged the representatives to create a “calming and hopeful” atmosphere and to avoid “useless media competitions and harmful political disputes.” Behind the scenes, everything was set regarding who should lead the legislative body, reflecting the regime’s intolerance for instability during severe internal and external crises.
Apart from Ghalibaf, Mojtaba Zolnour and Manouchehr Mottaki were also candidates for the 12th Majlis’ Speakership. In today’s vote, Zolnour received 60 votes, and Mottaki got 5 votes. Zolnour is close to the Revolutionary Guards and a known opponent of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal— also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Mottaki was a foreign minister under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, Mahmoud Nabavian, and Hamid Rasaei, who had also been competing fiercely with Ghalibaf for the Speakership and had recently intensified their efforts to undermine the Speaker, were called upon to retreat from their ambitions. However, the presence of 24 blank votes among the ballots in the newly purged Parliament indicates the early onset of factional conflicts and suggests that Khamenei’s hopes to suppress future power struggles may be far-fetched.
Analyzing Ghalibaf’s Standoff for #Iran’s Parliament Speakershiphttps://t.co/oZTs408rGr
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 12, 2024
With Ghalibaf’s reinstatement as Speaker, he remains a member of the council responsible for organizing the presidential election following Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash. The regime’s 14th presidential election to choose the ninth president is scheduled for June 28.
According to the internal rules of the Majlis, the Speaker election is followed by elections for the first and second Deputy Speakers, as well as the secretaries and observers of the Presidium. In today’s further voting, Hamidreza Haji Babaei received 175 votes and Ali Nikzad got 169 votes, becoming the first and second Deputy Speakers, respectively.
Haji Babaei, known for his tenure as Minister of Education under Ahmadinejad and for serving five parliamentary terms, has chaired the powerful Budget and Planning Committee in the previous Parliament. Nikzad, a former Minister of Housing under Ahmadinejad, is popular among factions close to Khamenei. In the 11th Majlis, he held positions as both the first and second Deputy Speaker. He also chaired Raisi’s campaign in both presidential elections.
Voter turnout in the two rounds of the 12th parliamentary elections was the lowest ever, even according to official statistics from the Ministry of Interior.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has been the Parliament Speaker since 2020. Before his political career in the legislative and executive branches, he was Tehran’s Mayor and held command positions in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the State Security Forces.
Initially known as a military figure, Ghalibaf’s career includes stints in Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters and the IRGC Air Force. His name has been entangled in significant corruption scandals within the Islamic Republic.
As deputy commander of Basij forces in 1994, Ghalibaf actively suppressed and created Sayyid al-Shuhada bases for the Morality Police in various provinces. During this period, he also established Basij intelligence activities to find, arrest, and suppress popular protests.
After founding the intelligence service of the Basij in 1996, Ghalibas became the head of the State Security Forces, where he founded the suppressive 110 Police Force, which played a major role in suppressing the student movements in 1999.
From 2016 to 2023, his name appeared in cases such as the astronomical real estate scandal, a 65 million toman bribery to stop parliamentary investigations into the municipality, a 1.25 billion toman withdrawal for elections through two contracts, and a debt of approximately 50 trillion tomans for the municipality—several times its current budget.
In recent months, the Iranian dissident group “Ghiam Sarnegouni” leaked documents from the Parliament’s servers showing Ghalibaf acting as a facilitator for Khamenei’s office and the IRGC, ensuring budgetary approvals and passing laws for their needs.
Ghalibaf’s wife, Zahra Moshir Al-Estekhareh, has also been implicated in cases like misappropriation in the “Imam Reza Charity,” running a currency exchange with her brother in Turkey, and his son Elias’s involvement in luxury real estate and schools on Kish Island. Another son, Eshaq, has been scrutinized for multiple trips to European countries and applying for Canadian residency.
Who is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the new speaker of #Iran’s parliament?https://t.co/dqAlsVotmH
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 2, 2020
One of the most controversial cases involving his wife and daughter Maryam, which sparked outrage on Persian-language social media, was the “baby stuff-gate” scandal, where they traveled to Turkey to purchase luxury baby items during Iran’s economic crisis.
During Ghalibaf’s 12-year tenure as Tehran Mayor, the municipality faced numerous accusations of corruption and embezzlement, the most prominent being the astronomical real estate scandal where land and houses were sold at prices far below market value to government, military, and judicial officials. These controversies, however, never disqualified him from candidacy by the Guardian Council.
Despite speculation that he might abstain from running for Speaker, Ghalibaf announced his candidacy following Raisi’s death and the urgent need for a presidential election. His re-election as Speaker seems to have been orchestrated with Khamenei’s approval.
As Ghalibaf continues in his role amid these scandals and crises, the Iranian regime faces increasing internal dissent and external pressures, highlighting the precariousness of its grip on power. While state officials are preoccupied with legislative and executive power games, vying for more influence and wealth, the Iranian people are striving, and some are working hard toward fundamental change.