The Iranian regime’s Guardian Council finally settled the fate of the participants in the upcoming presidential elections. Out of the 80 regime loyalists who registered to take on the hollow role of president in the mullahs’ regime, more than 70 were disqualified, leaving only six remaining, excluding a few who withdrew themselves. Among those disqualified are a former president, a former parliament speaker, several ministers and deputy ministers, a few members of the parliament, and a member of the office of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The extensive purges under the guise of “disqualification” clearly demonstrated how farcical the registration circus was and how it masked the internal crisis following the demise of regime president Ebrahim Raisi. Not to mention, the ridiculous antics of the regime’s agents, lined up with ID cards in hand before government TV cameras, even became a subject of ridicule and embarrassment among the regime’s own officials.
For instance, former Tehran mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi said, “Is there a greater art than to establish a mechanism that turns the main symbol of democracy in a country into a comedy show or stand-up comedy under the title of election registration, entertaining the nation for a few days and wasting a lot of the country’s time and budget to prepare the public mind for abandoning the republic?” (Ham-Mihan newspaper, June 5, 2024)
However, beyond the humor and ridicule, this process also has important and instructive points:
First, the disqualification and humiliation of so many ministers, deputies, heads of powers, and a host of leaders and servants of the Supreme Leader’s court inevitably make the regime’s base even smaller and more limited, leading to more infighting and defections. Consequently, the regime becomes more vulnerable and fragile in the face of public anger and hatred.
Second, it becomes clear once again that the regime, besieged by uprisings and an explosive society, has no way out or even room to maneuver except for internal contraction and external warmongering. This is why Khamenei can’t even trust many of the regime’s long-time insiders.
Third, among those approved is Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the notorious butcher of the 1988 massacre and the killer of PMOI members, which carries a clear message and meaning. The message is that the regime remains the same genocidal regime with no other means for survival. Although, in the midst of the crises that now surround his rule from within and without, the gap left by Raisi is not easily filled.
Fourth, once again, all those inside or outside the regime, or overseas, who were eagerly waiting for figures like Larijani or Jahangiri to be allowed to participate in sham elections were disappointed. Some of these wishful thinkers recently expressed that the regime might have learned from the disastrous boycott of recent election shows and expected more participation this time with the approval of previously disqualified candidates. But by eliminating them from the race, Khamenei showed that he is not deceived by the illusion of participation and is much more focused on contraction in fear of uprisings and the overthrow of his regime. It seems now these wishful thinkers should “learn” from the extensive purges of the Guardian Council, the body that vets election candidates.
In summary, the results of this farcical election again emphasize the reality that in this regime “there is no room for elections; it is time for revolution.”