Following their electoral defeat against the Reformists, Iran’s conservatives appear to be grappling with greater internal differences than ever before. Indeed, the multitude of voices coming out of the Principlist camp seem to have reached an all-time high, and in the absence of one political leader, this could become an Achilles’ heel for them.
These internal differences began as candidates launched their campaigns in the run-up to the May 19 presidential elections. The majority of the conservatives entered the electoral scene under the umbrella of the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, better known by its Persian acronym, JAMNA. Through its selection mechanism, amounting to a primary of sorts, JAMNA ultimately agreed on two main Principlist candidates: Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Shiite imam, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Tehran’s former mayor.
Meanwhile, some conservative groups and figures, such as former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, criticized this selection process and rejected the very idea of JAMNA from the start. Others, like the Islamic Coalition Party — one of the oldest political parties in Iran, which dates back to before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution — also refused to accept JAMNA and said it would introduce its own candidate for the elections. Thus, Mostafa Mirsalim, a former minister of culture and Islamic guidance (1994-1997), was named as the Islamic Coalition Party’s nominee.
Almost all opinion polls indicated that Mirsalim would not be able to secure more than 1% of the votes. Yet he continued to stay in the race until the very end, refusing to step aside in favor of the Principlists’ leading candidate, Raisi. This was even though pressures had intensified on Mirsalim to step aside as election day neared, with the Islamic Coalition Party even issuing a statement claiming that he had dropped out in favor of Raisi. However, shortly after, Mirsalim denied all such claims and announced that he had no intention of stepping down in favor of anyone.
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