Iran Feature: A Guide to The Political Battle Within Tehran's Establishment (Bakhash)

All summer, we have reported on the political tensions among Iran's conservatives and principlists, even as some of them try to find "unity" before next March's Parliamentary elections.

Writing for Tehran Bureau, Shaul Bakhash offers a guide to the factions, their aspirations, and their disputes:

In preparation for the 2012 parliamentary election, Iran's diverse conservative parties are already forging a strategy to marginalize or even exclude their principal opponents, especially reformists and supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The conservative bloc has begun by trying to craft a common platform and candidates list for the 2012 parliamentary (Majles) election.

The conservative camp is going after the reformists because they represent a vision of a more democratic and liberal Iran that is anathema to them. Conservatives are also going after the followers of Ahmadinejad, who once enjoyed strong support in the Majles, because the president has alienated conservatives across the political spectrum. He has been especially dismissive and even contemptuous of the conservative-dominated legislature and its prerogatives. And to the discomfort of the traditional establishment, he has used populism to appeal to villagers and the mass public above the heads of established institutions.

Besides political tensions, the unorthodox religious views of men close to Ahmadinejad have alienated the clerical community that is dominated by conservatives. The power accumulated by presidential chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, and the Rasputin like influence he reportedly exercises over the president, has also alarmed conservatives. Ahmadinejad's falling-out with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in April brought these long-simmering resentments against the president into the open.

In the conservative lexicon, Ahmadinejad and his inner circle have joined the reformists as a lethal threat to conservative values.

In their drive for unity, almost all the conservative politicians now label themselves osulgara, or "principlists." Prodded by leading conservatives, such as Assembly of Experts President Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani, principlists from several conservative organizations have created a council of 15 --- also known as the council of the 7 plus 8 --- to draw up a common platform and list of candidates for parliament.

In a letter to Mahdavi-Kani in August, more than 190 members of parliament urged unity and common purpose rather than an election scramble for seats among the principlists. Conservative newspapers like Kayhan have not only pushed the unity message but warned that the coming elections will be fateful for the triumph of conservative cause against the "enemies" of the Islamic revolution.

The council of 15 has two committees. The primary committee of seven is composed of two representatives from each of the country's two politically most important clerical organizations:

The Association of the Combatant Clerics of Tehran (Jame'eh-ye Rohaniyyat-e Mobarez) is headed by Mahdavi-Kani.

The Association of the Seminary Teachers of Qom (Jame'eh-ye Modarresin-e Howzeh-ye Elmi-ye Qom) is headed by Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi.

The committee of seven includes three top conservatives close to Iran's supreme leader.

Ali Velayati (pictured above at far right) is Khamenei's advisor on foreign affairs.

Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, a former speaker of parliament, is related to Khamenei by marriage.

Habibollah Asghar-Owladi is head of a political party with strong ties to bazaar merchants.

The second committee of eight consists of:

Six representatives of the principal conservative parties and movements in the Majles

The current speaker of parliament Ali Larijani

And the former Revolutionary Guards commander and Tehran Mayor Baqer Qalibaf.

The latter two are close to Khamenei. In fact, the Leader appears to have initiated the push for conservative unity. The "eight" will serve as the executive arm of the council, drawing up the common platform and party list. The "seven" will supervise and direct the operation and have final say on the decisions of the eight.

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