Hossein Dehghan: Iran's presidential candidate favored by supreme leader
"I advise the military not to get involved in politics."
With these words, former
Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, who died in June 1989, called on the
leaders of the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian army not to engage in
political action.
Despite this, the current
guide, Ali Khamenei, made an amendment to the Iranian constitution, according
to which the military is allowed to run in the presidential elections, scheduled
for June 18, 2021.
Khamenei supports the idea of
promoting fundamentalist or former military candidates to the presidential
elections to tighten control over decision-making at home.
Cunning Dehghan
One of the first military officials to
announce a bid to run in the presidential race was Hossein Dehghan, a close
associate of the Supreme Leader and a military advisor to Khamenei.
He held many political positions, being
a seasoned military leader since the war with Iraq, when he was commander of
the Air Force.
Dehghan, 64 years old, has reformist
orientations. He assumed the presidency of the Victims and Warriors Foundation
under Presidents Muhammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as Secretary
and Chairman of the Political, Defense and Security Committee of the Expediency
Council, in addition to assuming the position of Deputy Minister of Defense
during the period of late president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.
He was the minister of defense in the
first term of the government of incumbent President Hassan Rouhani (2013-2017).
After this, the Supreme Leader issued a
decision in August 2017 to appoint Dehghan as his advisor for defense
industries.
