Minoo's Share of Her Father's Legacy

Minoo Khalighi's father, Rahmatollah Khalighi, made headlines a year before her birth during the second parliamentary elections in Isfahan. Just as his daughter has become a notable figure in the tenth parliamentary elections, her father was not a candidate but played a significant role in the annulment of the elections. In April 1984, Rahmatollah Khalighi was the head of the supervisory board for the elections in Isfahan, and the Guardian Council declared the elections in this city void. In an election where, like the tenth parliamentary elections, three elected representatives from Isfahan had political leanings opposing the Guardian Council and were close to Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan and a prominent figure of the leftist faction in the province, Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the then-governor of Isfahan, protested the annulment of the elections, which had been ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini. However, Ayatollah Khomeini left his appointed governor alone and sided with the Guardian Council. Ultimately, the annulment of the elections benefited the leftist group, and in the by-elections later that year, all five candidates close to Ayatollah Taheri were elected to the parliament. The story of the annulment of elections in Isfahan did not end with the second parliament; the elections for the fifth parliament in this constituency, which also resulted in a victory for the left and a severe defeat for the right, were annulled. In the fourth and fifth parliaments, the majority was held by the right-leaning forces, but in the elections for the fifth parliament of Isfahan, Mohsen Vaheb, Abdolrahman Tajeddin, and Abdolhossein Seyfollahi from the leftist group, along with Zahra Pishgahi-Fard and Nira Akhavan, independent candidates, were elected, while Ali Akbar Parvaresh, a prominent figure from the right, came in sixth. The reasons for the annulment of the elections included illegal campaigning by candidates and their promises. Among them, conservative media heavily focused on Mohsen Vaheb's campaign promises, noting that he used the phrase 'Waheb al-Atya' on his campaign posters, which means 'the giver of gifts' and is one of God's attributes. Right-leaning media also reported that he promised to pursue the construction of a 'metro' on the Isfahan-Tehran route. After the annulment of the fifth parliament elections and the holding of by-elections, right-wing candidates again failed to enter the parliament. Nira Akhavan, Abdolrahman Tajeddin, Zahra Pishgahi-Fard, Nasser Khalighi, and Mostafa Moein were elected. Nasser Khalighi, Minoo Khalighi's uncle, became the Minister of Labor in Mohammad Khatami's second government, and Mostafa Moein was the Minister of Science in his first government. Mostafa Moein's seat in the parliament went to Hassan Kamran, who won in the by-elections against Ali Mazrouei. However, the parliamentary elections were not the only arena for the left and right conflicts in Isfahan. The clashes between these two groups in 1983 even led to street demonstrations, prompting Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to visit Isfahan under the pretext of commemorating Ayatollah Beheshti on July 7 to reduce tensions. The appointment of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri as the deputy leader further highlighted Isfahan's position in Iranian politics, to the extent that a saying attributed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the then-president, circulated in political circles: 'If Isfahan coughs, Iran catches a cold.' Despite Ayatollah Montazeri's position in the broader Iranian politics, Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri was recognized as the most powerful figure in the province. He had previously had disagreements with Ayatollah Hossein Khademi, a traditional cleric in Isfahan, and each had their own followers. After the 1979 revolution, alongside the rivalry between left and right groups, Ahmad Salamatian's support for Abolhassan Banisadr, the then-president, heightened Isfahan's sensitivity in Iranian politics. After Banisadr's removal, the Freedom Movement and other groups critical of Ayatollah Khomeini were eliminated from political positions in the country, including Isfahan, and the appointment of Gholamhossein Karbaschi as the governor of Isfahan increased the power of the left in the province. Conversely, the right in Isfahan also had powerful figures such as Ali Akbar Parvaresh, the Minister of Education in several governments, including Mir Hossein Mousavi's. The dismissal of Ayatollah Montazeri from the deputy leadership and the election of Ayatollah Khamenei as the leader of the Islamic Republic disrupted the political equations in Isfahan. Although Ayatollah Khamenei did not remove Ayatollah Taheri from his position as the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan, he was tolerated like a thorn in the throat. To weaken him, Ayatollah Hossein Mohammadi was appointed as the head of the Isfahan seminary. However, after a while, Ayatollah Mohammadi preferred not to get involved in political disputes and focused more on seminary affairs. The Ansar Hezbollah group in Isfahan, led by Kamal or Farhad Kaveh, was one of the strongest Ansar Hezbollah groups in Iran, heavily supported by right-wing figures including Ahmad Salek, the current representative of Isfahan in the parliament. After 1997, this group chanted 'Taheri, resign, resign' every week during Friday prayers in Isfahan. After the Night of Qadr ceremonies in Isfahan in 1998, with speeches by figures like Mohsen Kadivar, the Ansar Hezbollah group prevented Ayatollah Taheri from holding Friday prayers by attacking the podium on Quds Day that year. Tensions during Friday prayers in Isfahan continued until Ayatollah Taheri ultimately resigned from his position as the Friday prayer leader in 2002. The text of his resignation and the National Security Council's order for not publishing anything 'for or against' Ayatollah Taheri was a hot topic in the political atmosphere of the country for a long time. In Isfahan, as in other major cities in Iran during the second council elections, the right wing, known as conservatives, won against the left, known as reformists. Subsequently, all representatives from Isfahan in the seventh to tenth parliaments were conservatives. The issue of the 'annulment' of votes or disqualification of Minoo Khalighi has once again highlighted Isfahan's role in Iranian politics, shifting the subject of this parliamentary seat from regional conflicts to national political disputes. The Khalighi family name has once again emerged in Isfahan and Iranian politics. If more than three decades ago, Rahmatollah Khalighi became famous in the political arena due to the annulment of votes in Isfahan, now his daughter has become even more famous for her efforts to ensure her own votes are not annulled, surpassing even her father and uncle Nasser Khalighi. She has become the political heir of the Khalighi family, inheriting a legacy that even includes the annulment of elections.