I have prepared my chest for every spear and I am not afraid of anything in the way of justice,” he said, adding that he would continue his way despite some putting obstacles in his way.
One of the key speakers in the conference was Gholam Hossein Elham, the government’s spokesman, who praised the president for his services. He officially inaugurated the “No Cut Press” website that has been newly launched by a group of Ahmadinejad supporters.
A number of Ahmadinezjad’s top officials including Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the controversial advisor to the president, were present at the conference. The participants shouted slogans in support of Ahmadinejad and Mashaei.

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A helicopter carrying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a number of officials had an accident on Sunday, but the pilot managed to land the aircraft safely, Iranian president’s website reported.

Ahmadinejad was not injured in the incident.

Ahmadinejad was to inaugurate the longest road tunnel project of Iran in Alborz province. After the inauguration ceremony Ahmadinejad returned to capital city of Tehran by car.

 Gholam Hossein Elham a spokesman of the government said president Ahmadinejad usually travels by Helicopter for visit provinces and projects around the country.

“Ahmadinejad logged 3000 hours record of traveling by Helicopter until 2010,” he said in an interview with the president’s website.

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“Given to the increased requests from the youths and revolutionary people, Dr. Elham is to register in the presidential election,” he said.

Elham has held a variety of posts over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s two terms and was a member of the Guardian Council.

Given to possibility of Ahmadinejad’s top aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaee will register in the election, Elham’s candidacy will add to complexity of upcoming Iran’s presidential election. It is not clear Ahmadinejad will support which one of his close aides.

But Elham’s aide said in an interview with Iran’sView that “he will not withdraw from election race on behalf of Mashaee,” who possibly will run as the government backed candidate.”

Some political activists believes that Elham is Ahmadinejad’s alternative candidate to replace Mashaee in case he denied by Guradian Council.

But former Ahmadinejad administration’s Minister of Justice, Elham, will not run as “candidate of the government”, Rahmani said. “he will run for president as the candidate of 3rd Tir Current.” Third Tir or July 24 is the date Ahmadinejad won the 2005 presidential election.

While Saturday is last day of Candidate registration process, Rahmani didn’t give an exact date of Elham register his candidacy but he said “Youth supporters of Dr.Elham will gather front of his home tomorrow afternoon and will not leave until he go and register for presidential election.”

Bahman Sharifzade a cleric close close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s top aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaee, said in an interview with Shargh newspaper that Mahaee will register for presidential election on Saturday which is last day of Candidate registration for the presidential election.

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Iran’sView: As we get closer to the eleventh presidential election in Iran, the activities of individuals, groups, parties, and coalitions have been increasing significantly and influential figures and parties talk more about the election.

Fundamentalist, Reformists, and a group called the Supporters of the Government are the three main parties who are now preparing for the presidential election.

Fundamentalists and the 2+1 coalition

It was in mid-December when GholamAli Haddad Adel, MP and politician close to Iran’s Leader, announced the establishment of a coalition among the Fundamentalists. The news broadly spread in the country’s political atmosphere.

The new coalition was named “2+1”, including Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Ali Akbar Velayati (former foreign minister and the leader’s advisor on international affairs), and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (the Mayor of Tehran).

It seems that the fundamentalists again have turned to the strategy of coalition that has become one of their political traditions in the last decade. This strategy was picked by the Fundamentalists during the second round of the Islamic Councils of Cities and Villages in early 2000s when they were noticeably successful with the establishment of a coalition named “Abadgarane Irane Islami” (or the Builders of the Islamic Iran).

“The Coordinating Council of the Revolution’s Forces” in 2005 presidential election, the “5+6” coalition in parliamentary elections in 2007, and the “7+8” coalition in parliamentary elections in 2011 are examples of the main coalitions formed by the Fundamentalists.

Although the Fundamentalist coalition or the Coordination Council of Revolution’s forces could not succeed in 2005 presidential election and did not announce a single candidate but then the three fundamentalist candidates avoided entering the race and thus Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could win the election.

Now that the 2+1 coalition is established, Iran’s Parliament Speaker has reacted and stated that the coalition is not based on the consensus of all fundamentalists. MohammadReza Bahonar, Vice Speaker, has also called for the inclusion of more figures in the coalition.

On the other hand Mohsen Rezaei, and Manouchehr Mottaki, former foreign minister under Ahmadinejad have announced their candidacy as independent figures. There has also been news about the candidacy of Mostafa PourMohammadi, and some other figures close to the fundamentalists.

Fundamentalists and Jebheye Paydari (Stability Front)

In 2011, a number of Fundamentalists including former members of Ahmadinezad administration and a group of MPs established Jebheye Paydarie Enqelabe Eslami (the Stability Front of the Islamic Republic) with the support of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. The Stability front won a number of seats in the parliament.

The fact that members of the Stability were former members of the government administration and parliament is considered to be a strongpoint by the party itself. The most important feature of this party is their disaccord with Hashemi Rafsanjani, setting them at the opposite point to his views.

Some of the Fundamentalists who don’t have good relations with the government believe that the claim that the Stability Front only supports the healthy part of the government is part of and in line with Ahmadinejad’s administration strategy. Assadollah Badamchian the head of Motalefe party said a while ago that “Supporting Ahmadinejad while not supporting Mashaei is a funny joke”.

Kamran Baqeri Lankarani, the speaker of the Stability Front has dismissed claims over the group’s support for Mashaei, Ahmadinejad’s Advisor, saying “We have no common candidate with the movement that supports the government’s election team.”

Currently Kmaran Baqeri Lankarani (former Health Minister), Parviz Fattah (former Energy Minister under Ahmadinejad’s first administration), and Saeed Jalil are considered as the candidates for Stability Front.  

The group called Hamiane Doulat (“The Supporters of Government”)

Although Ahmadinejad once told reporters that “we don’t think about the election’s candidates even for a moment”, many political observers believe that he would not easily hand down the presidency to a person with no inclination towards him. During a chat in the Iranian state TV when the host used the phrase “the last year of the government”, Ahmadinejad reacted with a grin and said “Who said it is the last year of the government?”

Some political observers believe Ahmadinejad’s supports for controversial figures like Mashaei and vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi are pieces of puzzle of his step-to-step strategy.

It is said that Ahmdinejad’s choice for presidential candidacy is Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. Mashaei’soffice however has denied his candidacy.

GholamHossein Elham, Government speaker, Ali Nikzad, the Housing Minister, Kamran Daneshjo, the Minister of Science, and Ali Akbar Salehi, Foreign Minister, are possible candidates supported by Ahmadinejad.

The Stability Front and the 2+1 coalition are rivals inside the Fundamentalist groups, with both having the same view in opposition to Government and the Reformists.

Reformists

 The possible candidates of Hashemi’s electoral plan, known as “National Unity” or “National Rescue” are seen more often in the news.

Ayatollah Hashemi who entered the electoral arena with his “Free Election” slogan, met with Ali Akbar Nateq Noori, a well-known clergyman and a member of Rohaniat Mobarez. “I am in touch with revolution forces, figures in Bazar (well-known businessmen), and the clergymen. They express their worries over the way you are treated. Come to the scene openly and we all support you,” said Nateq Noori in the meeting.

Previous elections show that whenever Hashemi enters the electoral arena openly he himself or those under his support have failed (like in the sixth round of parliamentary elections, or the 2005 and 2009 presidential elections). This time, however he is determined to have an effective presence. “I’ll be present in the scene of the eleventh presidential election fearlessly and will influence the election,” a reformist paper quoted Hashemi as saying in response to Nateq Noori. The newspaper claimed that “National Unity Government” holds sessions with the presence of Hashemi, Nateq Noori, and former president Mohammad khatami, and that one of the three members of the “national unity triangle” would be announced as the candidate for presidency.

There are other speculations which say the national unity triangle would announce another figure likeHassan Rohani as their candidate.

These days Hashemi family is significantly and seriously involved in the political arena. “We should say that Rohani’s candidacy for presidential election is definite. Moderation is now a public demand and his 36-year records show he has always observed moderation and had good relations with all political groups,” Yasser Hashemi, one of the sons of the family, said in support for Rohani’s candidacy. His remarks come as some consider Khatami as the main choice of Hashemi for presidential candidacy.

It should be noted that the reformists, especially “Mousavi Khoiniha” have clearly understood that boycotting the elections is not beneficial for them. Once they said “If we don’t come there would be no competition and rivalry so the people’s participation would be reduced” but now they have come to this conclusion that they should enter the election even with one candidate as they now have learnt from past experiences like the ninth round of parliamentary elections. Although figures like Saeed Hajjarian talked of decrease in the spirit of reform even among the heads of reformists, some like Majid Ansari and GolamHossein Karbaschi, former mayor of Tehran and a member of Kargozaran would like to gain power through the reformists coming to the power.

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