Conservative politician Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was re-elected to Iran’s top legislative office on Tuesday, reaffirming the political dominance of the far-right in a country recently shaken by the deaths of the president and foreign minister.
Before being elected to the speakership in 2021, Ghalibaf previously served as Tehran’s for more than 12 years. A longtime fixture in Iranian politics, the controversial former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general assumed the role after a series of failed presidential campaigns.
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Ghalibaf’s role as a key driver of the IRGC’s harsh crackdown on Iranian university students during campus protests in 1999 raised him into a shining star amongst the country’s political elite. Later, they elevated him to lead Iran’s police force.
In Tuesday’s vote, Ghalibaf faced no serious challengers, having received 198 out of 297 votes. A total of 230 seats in the 290-seat legislature are held by Iran’s hard-liners. He is expected to uphold the regime’s commitment to conservative Islamic values and anti-Western rhetoric.
Shiite cleric Mojtaba Zonnour came in second with 60 votes.
The country’s March parliamentary elections saw the lowest voter turnout in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.