Ahmad Jannati's Implicit Reference to Ahmadinejad's Candidacy as a 'New Sedition'

The head of Iran's Assembly of Experts, Ahmad Jannati, implicitly referred to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's potential candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections as a 'new sedition' and expressed gratitude for Ali Khamenei's 'appropriate action' in preventing this sedition. On Thursday, October 8, the Mehr News Agency reported that Jannati made this remark during the first joint session of the Assembly's board and commissions. In this session, Jannati thanked the Supreme Leader for his 'complete insight' in addressing the emergence of a 'new sedition' without directly mentioning Ahmadinejad's name. According to Mehr, members of the Assembly also emphasized the need to pay 'serious attention' to the Supreme Leader's directives to 'avoid creating a bipolar atmosphere in society.' These statements and positions from the Assembly's leadership came after Ahmadinejad's intention to participate in the upcoming presidential elections and Khamenei's explicit opposition to this decision became headline news in Iran. The news of Khamenei's opposition was initially reported by some political activists and conservative media, but after supporters of Ahmadinejad expressed doubt, the Supreme Leader was compelled to publicly state that he did not consider Ahmadinejad's candidacy to be 'in the best interest.' Following these remarks, Ahmadinejad officially responded to the Supreme Leader's request and withdrew from the upcoming presidential elections. Despite Ahmadinejad's compliance with Khamenei's request, some supporters of the Supreme Leader and conservative media stated that Ahmadinejad should not have acted in a way that forced the Leader to publicly clarify his position. In this context, Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, a former intelligence minister, stated that 'Ahmadinejad should have complied with the Leader's message before traveling to Gorgan and withdrawn from the elections.' According to some media reports, Ahmadinejad ignored this request after his meeting with Khamenei and did not cancel his provincial trip to Gorgan. The conservative news agency Tasnim also wrote on October 5 that 'the Leader had requested that this opinion be communicated to Ahmadinejad's supporters and the revolutionary forces in some manner.' However, the news agency added that Ahmadinejad 'acted differently in this matter, as in some other cases, which caused numerous doubts and ambiguities among the revolutionary forces.' The report also noted that 'Ahmadinejad not only did not inform his supporters of the Leader's explicit opinion regarding his candidacy, but also... in some cases indirectly rejected this issue with a series of hints and words.' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was preparing for the upcoming presidential elections while some prominent members of the conservative faction announced that they would not support his candidacy in this election cycle. They also raised the possibility of his disqualification by the Guardian Council, which Jannati implicitly supported Ahmadinejad's candidacy in 2009 as its secretary.