Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei (; born 16 November 1960) is an Iranian politician and former intelligence officer. As a senior Cabinet member in the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he served as Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2013, and served as the fourth first vice president of Iran for one week in 2009 until his resignation was ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A close ally of President Ahmadinejad, Mashaei was viewed by many Iranian clerics as an anti-establishment activist and secular-oriented nationalist. He has been criticized by religious conservatives for alleged "deviant tendencies," such as elevating Iranian heritage and nationalism above Islam as well as for statements he has made criticizing the Assembly of Experts and the theocratic doctrine of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists, and advocating for the clergy to remove themselves from the political establishment. He has also been called a pragmatic, moderate conservative with "liberal views on cultural and social issues."

On 11 May 2013, with the public support and endorsement of outgoing President Ahmadinejad, Mashaei announced that he would run for the presidency in the upcoming election. However, his application to run was disqualified by the Guardian Council, which must approve all potential candidates, as well as the final election results. Ahmadinejad protested the disqualification and referred to the Guardian Council's decision as an act of "oppression."

Early life and education Mashaei was born in Katalom, Ramsar. He holds a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from Isfahan University of Technology.

Career and activities Mashei started his career at the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit where he joined in 1981. There he met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then governor of the northwestern city of Khoy. The two men developed a close friendship He is a former head of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran, and previously served briefly as a deputy interior minister.

After resigning from vice presidency in 2009, Mashaei was appointed chief of staff to the Presidential Office and an adviser to the President, Ahmedinejad.

Views and controversies According to The New York Times journalist Thomas Erdbrink, "leading ayatollahs and commanders" have called Mashaei a "Freemason," a "foreign spy" and a "heretic." They accuse Mashaei of plotting to oust the generation of clerics who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution and of promoting direct relations with God, instead of through clerical intermediaries. He and his allies, they say, are part of a "deviant" current.

Mashaei also made public statements which some considered pro-Israel, when he said that Iranians are "friends of all people in the world—even Israelis", and that any conflict or disagreement was with the Israeli government only. In another occasion he said: "No nation in the world is our enemy, Iran is a friend of the nation in the United States and in Israel, and this is an honor." He received criticisms from clerics and conservative members of the Iranian Parliament and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who called the comments about Israelis "illogical". However, his comments received some cautious backing from Ahmedinejad. However, Mashaei has also said that if Israel attacked Iran, Iran could destroy it within a week. In a 20 May 2010 statement his exact words were "Zionists will have no longer than a week to live".

On 6 August 2010, Mashaei again drew protests from Iran's conservative establishment after speaking at a meeting with Iranian expatriates. He said that the ideology of Iran, rather than Iran's state religion of Shia Islam, should be promoted to the world. He also asserted that the country only acknowledged the "pure Islam implemented in Iran and not how Islam is interpreted in and by other countries". He claimed that without Iran, Islam would be lost and other Islamic countries feared Iran due to Iran having the only "truthful" version of Islam.

Iran's armed forces joint chief of staff, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said Mashaei's comments were a "crime against national security" and were divisive against the rest of the Muslim world.

Ahmadinejad, who also spoke at the meeting, defended Mashaei by saying "the atmosphere of criticism is a necessity and nobody should be condemned for voicing his viewpoints and not every difference of opinion should lead to a fight. ... what Mashaei wanted to say was that Iran is a country with culture and civilization and accordingly chose Islam as its ideology." or "perverted group" (described by the Tehran Times as Iranians "obsessed with the imminent return of the Shiite messiah" and giving insufficient deference to Shia clerics; and by the Tehran Bureau as "Mashaei and his inner circle.") According to a report in the New York Review of Books, Mashaei is believed by his followers to be in contact with the "Imam of the Era" or the 12th Imam, and this is the source of his dispute with Iran's clerics and reason for Ahmadinejad's refusal to part ways with him.

Apart from these controversial views Mashaei was implicated in a big banking embezzlement in 2011. Iran has twelve vice presidents, but the first vice president is the most important, as he leads cabinet meetings if the president is absent.

Dismissal On 18 July 2009, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei advised Ahmadinejad to change the position of Mashaei in the cabinet.

Ministers, including then Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and then Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi stormed out of a cabinet meeting during an argument with Ahmedinejad over Mashaei's appointment.

By 24 July this position had become politically unsustainable. Mashaei resigned from the office of vice president, in compliance with the orders of Supreme Leader Khamenei. More specifically, the statement of Mashei about Israel, indicating that the Israeli people were not enemies of the Iranian people, led to this opposition against him. It is unclear whether there is any factual basis to these suggestions. Dubious rumors of unusual religious affiliations have been known to surface in Iran concerning people with whom the regime is disaffected.

It was also suggested that by demanding Mashaei's removal, Khamenei effectively appropriated a new power, since normally the Supreme Leader does not intervene openly to oust a government official. However, Article 131 of the constitution provides that first vice president takes over as acting president in cases where the president is incapacitated only if permitted by the supreme leader.

Appointment as chief of staff Following Mashaei's resignation, Ahmedinejad appointed him as his chief of staff and head of presidential center, abruptly dismissed from the cabinet Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i who had opposed the vice-presidential appointment, and threatened to dismiss Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar Harandi. Harandi resigned before he could be dismissed. Mashaei was dismissed as head of presidential center less than two years later in April 2011, but retained his other posts. He was replaced by Hamid Baqai, another Ahmadinejad ally, as head.

2013 presidential election

Ahmadinejad was constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term in 2013, so he could not run in the 2013 Presidential Election. A confidential US diplomatic cable leaked in 2011 reported that Mashaei was "being groomed as a possible successor" to President Ahmedinejad. Mashaei finally registered to run for Iran's presidential elections on 11 May. However, his nomination was blocked by the Guardian Council on 21 May. He had a mandate of two days to protest to the rejection but his rejection remained. Mashei was described by Ahmedinejad in 2011 as an "inspiration".

Quotes

"No nation in the world is our enemy, Iran is a friend of the nation in the United States and in Israel, and this is an honor. We view the American nation as one with the greatest nations of the world." "Today, Iran is friends with the American and Israeli people. No nation in the world is our enemy." "There are different interpretations of Islam, but our understanding of the real nature of Iran and of Islam is the Iranian school. From now on, we must present to the world the school of Iran."