Iran’s parliament has elected Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former mayor of Tehran who is tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as its speaker, “solidifying hardline control of the body as tensions between the US and the Islamic Republic remain high over the collapsed nuclear deal.”
The new position also places Qalibaf in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, “the country’s highest level body that handles defense and nuclear issues.” Qalibaf views Iran as an increasingly influential regional power and internationally. He also announced his goal in his new position, stating that “Iran’s newly-formed parliament deems any negotiations with the United States as harmful, and the new parliament’s agenda is to complete Iran’s revenge for the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.”
The Trump Administration continues its battle against the Iranian regime that was empowered by the Obama Administration via the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, which gave billions to Iran to fund its misdeeds and proxies.
America is being eroded on all sides by the red-green axis, which is bent on destroying democracy and the freedoms it affords. This new speaker of the Parliament in Iran has stated his nefarious intentions to assist in this effort.
“Hardline former Tehran mayor named Iran parliament speaker as US tensions soar over nuclear deal,” The New Arab, May 28, 2020:
Iran’s parliament elected a former mayor of Tehran tied to the Revolutionary Guard as its next speaker Thursday, solidifying hardline control of the body as tensions between the US and the Islamic Republic remain high over the collapsed nuclear deal.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s assumption of power comes after a string of failed presidential bids and 12 years as the leader of Iran’s capital city, in which he built onto Tehran’s subway and supported the construction of modern high-rises.
Many, however, remember Qalibaf for his support as a Revolutionary Guard general for a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999. He also reportedly ordered live gunfire be used against Iranian students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief….
Qalibaf’s candidacy received 230 votes from the 264 lawmakers present in the parliament in the first round of voting, state television reported. Parliament has 290 seats.
Qalibaf, 58, replaces Ali Larijani, who served as the parliament’s speaker from 2008 until this May. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Larijani as an adviser and a member of the country’s Expediency Council on Thursday, state TV reported.
As speaker, Qalibaf leads a body that can debate Iran’s annual budget and push for the impeachment of government ministers. However, laws passed by the parliament must be approved by a 12-member Guardian Council and Khamenei holds final say on all matters of state.
The position also puts Qalibaf onto Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s highest level body that handles defense and nuclear issues. That takes on new importance as the US withdrew waivers from Iran’s nuclear program late Wednesday and as tensions between the two nations remain high.
A trained pilot, Qalibaf served in the paramilitary Guard during the country’s bloody 1980s war with Iraq. After the conflict, he served as the head of the Guard’s construction arm, Khatam al-Anbia, for several years leading efforts to rebuild.
Qalibaf then served as the head of the Guard’s air force, when in 1999 he co-signed a letter to reformist President Mohammad Khatami amid student protests in Tehran over the government closing a reformist newspaper and a subsequent security force crackdown. The letter warned Khatami the Guard would take action unilaterally unless he agreed to putting down the demonstrations.
Violence around the protests saw several killed, hundreds wounded and thousands arrested…..