Raeisi campaign ‘to form headquarters for Reformist supporters’

Presidential candidate Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi’s campaign has decided to open a popular branch to organize his “Reformist and Moderate supporters,” a report says.

The Young Journalists Club (YJC) reported on Friday (May 28) that Raeisi’s campaign had decided to establish a “Popular Headquarters of Reformist and Moderate Supporters” following a meeting between a Reformist figure, Mohammad Zare’ Foumani, and Raeisi’s campaign chief, Ali Nikzad.

Zare’ Foumani said he had decided to support Raeisi in his bid to become president, given the fact that Raeisi was running on a non-partisan platform. He said he considered Raeisi “a reformer.”

He also invited all prominent Reformist and Moderate figures to join.

Raeisi, the current head of the Iranian Judiciary, is closely associated with the Reformist’s rival faction — the Principlist camp. Despite a failed campaign against incumbent Hassan Rouhani on a Principlist ticket in 2017, Raeisi faced widespread calls from the Principlist camp to rerun in the 2021 presidential election. But announcing his bid earlier this month, he surprised all by saying that he would be running as an “independent.” He said he did not consider himself “a contender against political groups,” lending his campaign non-partisan overtones.

SS