Member of the Combatant Clergy Society: The Majority Supports Raisi

Mohammad Taqi Rahbar, a member of the Combatant Clergy Society, states that the opinion of the "majority" of this organization is to support Ebrahim Raisi's candidacy in the presidential elections, but the two organizations, the Society of Teachers and the Combatant Clergy Society, do not intend to "command" the conservative forces. On Friday, May 15, in an interview with the website Nameh News, Rahbar mentioned that the Combatant Clergy Society has a "positive opinion" of Raisi. He added, "Some individuals in the society may not share this view, but the criterion is the majority; currently, the majority supports Raisi, but it is not a consensus." This principlist cleric also stated that there is "semantic and conceptual interaction" and "alignment in action" between the two organizations, namely the Combatant Clergy Society and the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary. On Thursday, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi-Kermani, the Secretary-General of the Combatant Clergy Society, stated that this organization has "attention and trust" in Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raisi, "but our focus is more on Raisi." These statements come after the majority of members of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary supported Ebrahim Raisi's candidacy in their meeting last Friday. In this regard, Ayatollah Mohsen Faqihi, a member of this conservative political and religious organization, stated on May 9 that in a meeting attended by "most members of the Society of Teachers... it was decided to support Hojjatoleslam and Muslims Raisi." Despite the fact that the support of these two like-minded organizations for one of the candidates usually plays a significant role in determining the final conservative candidate, Mohammad Taqi Rahbar stated that "the two societies do not want to play a supervisory role. They aim to act as a father rather than a commander." He also referred to the formation of the Popular Front of Revolutionary Forces (JAMNA) for coordination among conservatives in the elections, stating that "in this period, JAMNA and its popular nature were more considered by the two societies; we believe that we should not dictate to the people, but rather allow them to make their own decisions. The two societies do not intend to dictate their opinions to the people." The temporary Friday prayer leader of Isfahan considered the withdrawal of two conservative candidates in favor of each other to be dependent on "their internal situation." He added that "from the very beginning, discussions were based on the premise that if everyone reached a consensus on one candidate, the other candidate should withdraw from the election. However, in practice, we must see whether such an event will occur or not." Rahbar also added that "we have not spoken closely with Mr. Raisi and Qalibaf to see if they are willing to withdraw in favor of each other or not." He also considered the multiplicity of candidates in this faction, based on "experience," to mean "lack of success." These remarks from this member of the Combatant Clergy Society come at a time when all three conservative candidates in the presidential elections have announced that they will remain in the race until the end and do not intend to withdraw. Nevertheless, there is speculation that Mostafa Mir-Salim, a candidate from the Islamic Coalition Party, and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Mayor of Tehran, may eventually withdraw in favor of Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds, so that conservatives can face Hassan Rouhani, the current president, with a single candidate. Although so far, all three principlist candidates have rejected the possibility of withdrawing from the competition. In this context, Natiq Nouri supported Hassan Rouhani; Saeed Jalili supported Ebrahim Raisi; the Stability Front announced support for Ebrahim Raisi, the presidential candidate; the "majority" of members of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary supported Ebrahim Raisi; Saeed Mortazavi expressed his wish for Ebrahim Raisi to become president; Rouhani and Raisi received support from several disqualified figures; and there is a rift among conservatives ahead of the elections, with the Stability Front not cooperating with JAMNA.