Jahangiri: I Exaggerated During the Elections and Haven't Met with the Leader Since Then

Es'hagh Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani, stated that he "exaggerated a bit" during the presidential elections and has not met with Iran's leader since then, but he hopes "this opportunity will be provided soon." In an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times, published on Monday, February 19, he mentioned that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 78-year-old leader of the Islamic Republic, is in "good condition, so we currently have no concerns." Regarding the post-Khamenei era, he claimed that due to the "maturity" of the Islamic Republic system, "no crisis" will occur regarding his succession. A significant part of Jahangiri's remarks is his implicit acknowledgment of the cooling of his relationship with the Supreme Leader, apparently stemming from his somewhat critical stance during the presidential election campaign on May 29 this year. He told the Financial Times that he has not met with Ayatollah Khamenei since the elections. "I have a very good relationship with the Supreme Leader. But during the elections, I exaggerated a bit. I hope to meet him soon." The Vice President did not provide an example of his "exaggeration," but he seemingly referred to criticisms he made about the past performance of candidates like Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf during televised debates. In his first election debate, Jahangiri harshly criticized Qalibaf, implicitly accusing him of employing those responsible for the attack on the Saudi embassy in his campaign headquarters. He said: "Who attacked the Saudi embassy? Who caused the disruption for the 700,000 Shiites who were coming and sustaining the lives of people in Mashhad? Yes, we cannot attack the embassy. Did the government attack, Mr. Qalibaf? Who attacked? Which candidates are they currently supporting? Which candidates defended them and funded them?" The Vice President also accused Qalibaf of "security and judicial crackdowns on culture and social harms" and added: "Worse, beating street vendors does not solve the problem, and the culture is transmitted to the towns where the mother of the vendor gets beaten." Another criticism from Jahangiri during the elections was about the "bad situation" in Iran's politics before Rouhani's first government, stating: "They confined everyone, harmed everyone, and put them against each other. In the political atmosphere, they spent $700 billion of the country's income." Being close to the reformist movement in Iran, he claimed in his interview with the Financial Times that "over 60% of people in Iran still believe they can advance their demands through reforms... and they will definitely achieve these demands." These remarks come amid protests last December in dozens of cities in Iran against the Islamic Republic's foreign, economic, cultural, and social policies, where one of the main slogans of the protesters was: "Reformist, conservative / the story is over." However, the Vice President stated: "The economic situation is not as bad as people think. Their perception of the harsh economic conditions is partly influenced by the propaganda of hardliners." According to Jahangiri, government opponents have created an atmosphere to make people skeptical about reforms without considering that inciting protests could lead to dissatisfaction with the entire Islamic Republic system. He emphasized: "In social issues, you can start something, but necessarily ending it is not in your hands." Rouhani's government and its supporters accuse conservatives, especially Ayatollah Alam al-Huda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, of initiating the December protests in Mashhad, but then they lost control of the situation. These protests, which lasted about a week in more than 80 cities in Iran, resulted in at least 25 deaths and around 5,000 arrests, according to official statistics. The protesters chanted strong slogans against the leaders of the Islamic Republic, government corruption, extensive cultural and social restrictions, poor living conditions, and discrimination in the country. In his conversation with the Financial Times, the Vice President acknowledged widespread corruption in Iran, stating: "The reality is that the level of corruption is high... The worse reality is that since we could not open the economy and create transparency sooner... corruption has become largely systematic.