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Is Tehran's mayor lobbying to be only conservative candidate?

While Iranian conservatives claim to have forged unity, a closer look indicates the opposite as Ebrahim Raisi’s supporters believe Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is maneuvering to sideline him.
File photo taken May 11, 2013 shows Tehran Mayor and Iranian presidential candidate Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. The Iranian presidential election will be held June 14. REUTERS/Fars News
  (iIRAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS PROFILE) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTX10KSD

The two main conservative candidates seeking to unseat incumbent Hassan Rouhani in the May 19 presidential vote are Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Despite their claims of unity ahead of the elections, a closer look indicates that the conservatives are deeply divided.

Ghalibaf, the Tehran mayor who has now registered to run in three presidential elections, looks determined to stay in the race to the very end, mindful that a third-time defeat or withdrawal would lead to a further decline in his reputation. On the other hand, now that Raisi, the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Shiite imam, has risked his future political career and reputation by stepping into the fray, he is also not likely to pull out in favor of a starkly different figure such as Ghalibaf.

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