Seven different presidents have succeeded to Iran’s presidency since the 1979 revolution, starting from Abu Al-Hassan Bani Sadr until Hassan Rouhani at the present before the twelfth presidential elections held on Friday, May 10, 2017. All dismissed presidents faced catastrophic destinies after leaving office; assassination, house arrest, and ban in the media except Ali Khamenei who survived and took over the Supreme Leadership position after the death of Khomeini, founder of the Republic of Iran in 1989.
» Presidential Amendments
Over the first decade of the revolution the Iranian regime, especially the executive authority witnessed drastic changes in terms of the presidency of the republic and the cabinet office. Khomeini appointed the president at that time Bani Sadr commander of the armed forces at the beginning of the Iraq-Iran war, which angered his opponents. After Bani Sadr’s dismissal from office, all presidential powers were confined from all his successors.
According to BBC Persian, article 75 of the draft constitution says, “President of the republic is the highest position in the Iran in terms of internal affairs, internal relations, and implementing the constitution. He manages the relation between the three branches of government and the president, head of the executive branch.”
With the adoption of the term “Jurist Leadership” in the Iranian constitution in 1979, president of the republic had minor responsibilities less than those listed in the draft constitution: “After the Supreme Leader’s position, president of the republic is the highest position in the country. He is responsible for implementing the constitution, managing the relation between the three branches of government and presidency of the executive authority except for the Supreme Leadership Affairs.” However, after Khomeini’s death and disagreement between Khamenei and his Prime Minister at that time Mir Hussein Mousavi, the constitution underwent some amendments; the president was deprived from managing the relation between the three branches of government and the Prime Minister’s position was abolished. Now, there is a suggestion to restore this position against abolishing the president’s position during the period of standing for the elections in April.
» Interim Government
Before we go through the Iranian presidents after the establishment of the republican system, we notice that this regime launched a war against its supporters such as Engineer Mahdi Bazirjan, Iran’s Interim Prime Minister that was appointed by Khomeini to prepare for the republican referendum. Bazirjan asked for more powers on his first day in office, but he faced many problems such as the storming of the US embassy in Tehran without having anything to do with that, leading to his resignation. BBC News.
Abu Al-Hassan Bani Sadr: the First President to be Accused of Treason
After the dismissal of Bazirjan’s interim government that lasted for 9 months only, Abu Al-Hassan Bani Sadr succeeded to Iran’s presidency. Khomeini granted him powers to run a war with Iraq. His war strategies and opposition to his prime minister at that time Mohammed Ali Rajai escalated tension between them due to Bani Sadr’s commendation of the Army’s role in the war, while Rajai and his party, “Al-Jomhouriah Al-Islamiah” [Islamic Republic] sough bigger role for the revolutionary guard corps. This disagreement between Bani Sadr and Al-“Jomhouria Al-Islamiah” Party that won the majority in the parliament led to Sadr’s dismissal and accusation of treason and conspiring against the regime to be the first impeached and dismissed Iranian president for political incompetence. After that, he escaped to France through Iraq (BBC News).
» Mohammed Ali Larijani: Assassinated in a Meeting
Mohammed Ali Larijani was the second president of Iran after Bani Sadr’s Impeachment but, his presidency was the shortest. He took office for 28 days only. He was assassinated alongside his Prime Minister Mohammed Jawad Bahnar in an explosion in a meeting in the Prime Minister’s department. As a result, the Presidential Council (Speaker of the Parliament at that time Hashemi Rafsanjani and Head of the Judiciary Higher Council, Abdulkarim Mousavi Ardabili) appointed, in an exceptional procedure, the Minister of Internal Affairs Mohammed Riza Mahdavi Kinni to fill in for the Prime Minister (Iranian Sources).
» Ali Khamenei: the Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei started his presidency in disagreement with the parliament. He wanted to appoint Ali Velayati Prime Minister, while the parliament agreed on appointing Mir Hussein Mousavi for the eight years of Khamenei’s two terms.
With the death of Khomeini in 1989, Mousavi lost one of his biggest supporters. Khamenei took over the Iranian Supreme Leadership. Although Mousavi quit politics, his disagreement with the new Supreme Leader did not come to an end. Mousavi was put under house arrest alongside Mahdi Karroubi, former Speaker of the parliament after the Green Movement events following the presidential elections in 2009. Mousavi and Karroubi accused the regime of rigging the elections in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the second round of the elections.
» Hashemi Rafsanjani: Mysterious Death
Speaker of the parliament Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani succeeded to the Iranian presidency after Khamenei’s appointment Iran’s Supreme Leader. His first term witnessed some tension, while in his second term Khamenei opposed the free market and supervisory policies openly. Rafsanjani was exposed to criticism after the end of his presidency and the election of Mohammed Khatami president of the Iranian republic. Rafsanjani assumed the responsibility of many positions in the Iranian regime until he sided by the Green Movement activists in 2009, leading to his exclusion from the political life in Iran. His criticism to the way of dealing with this crisis at that time led to accusing him of solidarity with the opposition. He was morally assassinated after losing the “Jum’ah” [Friday] Imamate in Tehran and chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts. His children also lost their positions (BBC News). Rafsanjani had a heart attack and died on January 8, 2017, while some reports stated that he was suffocated while he was taking a shower in a swimming pool to the north of Tehran.
» Mohammed Khatami: banned in the media
After Rafsanjani, Mohammed Khatami who said that his government faced a problem every nine days succeeded to the presidency. On his first days in office, he escalated tension with the regime leaders. By the end of his era, Reformers expected he would never assume the responsibility of any position in the state, which came true. He was excluded from the political life and cornered after his support to the Green Movement activists and Mir Hussein Mousavi against Ahmadinejad in the 2009 elections. Khatami supported the demands of the opposition in Iran until he was banned in the media in 2015 on the orders of the Supreme Leader (Doicheh Fileh).
» Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: the Delinquency Current
Ahmadinejad was the sixth Iranian president since the 1979 revolution. His second term was characterized by some tension with Khamenei and Hashemi Rafsanjani. In his secret letter to Nejad, Khamenei stated the objectivity in appointing Esfindiar Rahim Masha’i Nejad’s first deputy. Nejad did not respond to Khamenei’s orders and locked himself at home due to the dismissal of his Minister of Intelligence Haidar Muslihi on the orders of Khamenei, which has, according to some observers, eliminated Nejad’s political future. Nejad also opposed the Leader’s recommendation for him to not run the presidential elections of 2017. Some observers expected the rejection of his qualification due to his disregard of the Leader’s recommendations, which came true. Consequently, Nejad’s current became to be known as the Delinquency current during his presidency and after because of its beliefs and opposition to Khamenei. On the same issue, commander of the security forces Ismail Ahmedi Maqdam said, “People who claim that their eight years in the presidency are linked with the Imam of the Age [Mahdi], assumed responsibility directly from him and forgot the Jurist Leadership, and became Salafis deserve death. These individuals who headed the Iranian executive authority for eight years are members of a delinquent group.” Based on that assumption, the qualification of Hamid Riza Masha’i and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to run the presidential elections of 2013 were rejected same as the qualification of Hashemi Rafsanjani when it was rejected in the same year. Consequently, some of Ahmadinejad’s companions renounced him after his negligence of the Leader’s recommendations to not run the presidential elections 2017.
