On the eve of the introduction of the new government by regime president Massoud Pezeshkian, the power struggle among the ruling factions for cabinet seats is escalating daily. Various factions and groups within the regime are aggressively vying for their share of positions to get a bigger share of plundering the country’s resources and the people’s wealth.
Pezeshkian has formed a body called the “Steering Council” for selecting members of his government, with former foreign minister Javad Zarif at its head. This has provoked the anger and dissatisfaction of the dominant faction, reflected in Tehran’s Friday prayers where the crowd chanted, “Zarif, get lost.”
In this power struggle, cleric Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of Majlis (parliament), described Zarif as “raised in America, with his skin, flesh, and blood formed in the land of infidels.”
Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayer leader in Mashhad, referred to Zarif as someone “who thinks you can shake hands with the enemy,” and urged the parliament not to vote for him if he is proposed as the foreign minister.
The Friday Prayer leader in Ardabil also threatened Pezeshkian and said, “Mr. President! Don’t surround yourself with these people! You will lose both your job and the government! The state will be harmed.”
On July 19, Kayhan daily, the mouthpiece of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, issued a bold warning to Pezeshkian, stating: “Take this warning seriously! Pezeshkian is surrounded by deviants and security convicts.” Kayhan then reminded and cautioned him with Khamenei’s words: “Do not appoint those who have even the slightest deviation from the regime.”
In the same issue, in another article, Kayhan sarcastically in addressing Pezeshkian wrote, “We suggest that you keep part of Raisi’s cabinet in the future government to ensure no disruption in ongoing affairs.”
On July 20, Rouydad 24 news website wrote, “Principlists, with a dual strategy of undermining Zarif and belittling Pezeshkian, are trying to obstruct the path of the new government’s Steering Council.”
In response to these attacks, Javad Zarif continued his work and in the so-called “Steering Council,” asking the factions to introduce their candidates to these committees to appease the power-seekers. However, these committees themselves have become a source of pressure on Pezeshkian.
The pressure reached such an extent that politician Behzad Nabavi pleaded: “I humbly ask all committee members to stop their power-seeking over this sacrificial meat for the sake of poor Pezeshkian” (Source: State-run Entekhab news website, July 17).
The power struggle is not limited to fights over ministerial and government positions. There is also a fierce battle over the Tehran municipality, with some factions in the fraudulent Tehran City Council collecting petitions and signatures for the removal of Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani, while others are campaigning for his retention.
A similar situation exists against presidential candidate Saeed Jalili, with rivals questioning the legitimacy of his shadow government, asking who gave him the responsibility for the shadow government. Jalili is being urged to come out of the shadows and explain where the funding for the shadow government comes from. In response to rival faction attacks, Jalili has announced that he will pursue the shadow government with greater strength and seriousness (Source: Quds Force news agency, July 20).
Thus, Khamenei sees his plans for consolidation to prevent uprisings and the expansion of the Resistance movement have turned to ashes with the demise of former president Ebrahim Raisi, who was a Khamenei loyalist and notoriously renowned for his role in executing dissidents, especially PMOI members and supporters. With Raisi gone, the power struggle and plundering in his corrupt and fractured regime have intensified.
The increasing crisis within the regime ultimately stems from the fundamental contradiction between the entire regime and the people who are fed up and demand its overthrow, paving the way for widespread popular uprisings. The people have already cast their vote of “no” to the entire regime by boycotting the sham election and making it clear that they want regime change.