The mayoralty of Tehran was the springboard to the Iranian presidency for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and it could work the same way for his successor. Ahmadinejad ran Iran’s chaotic capital for two years, curtailing many of the freedoms introduced by the reformist administration that preceded him, before he was elected president in June 2005. Now, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf – the current mayor, a defeated candidate in the 2005 elections, and one of Ahmadinejad’s greatest political rivals – has revived his ambitions for the presidential race of 12 June 2009.
The timing is critical. Despite clerical Schadenfreude at the west’s financial misfortunes, Iran is facing its own crisis. Falling prices have hit its oil-dependent economy hard, unemployment is rising and inflation stands at almost 30 per cent. With elections approaching, Ahmadinejad, whose disdain for conventional economics is well known, is vulnerable. Could a Qalibaf-led Iran, in partnership with Barack Obama’s new administration, restore international confidence in the country’s economy and thaw the antagonism that marked the Bush-Ahmadinejad years?
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