In October 2007, Ali Larijani resigned from his post as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council because of what he called a “serious managerial disagreement” with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Saeed Jalili replaced him. Now, eight years later, the Iranian media is reporting that Jalili is preparing to run for parliament and to replace Larijani again, this time as speaker of the Iranian parliament.

In May, Aryanews reported, “It seems Saeed Jalili, who surprisingly became a candidate in the 11th presidential election and changed the political equations of the Principlists and the election itself, has now apparently decided to try his chance at becoming a parliamentarian.” With parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2016, there have also been reports that the ultraconservative Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, head of the Imam Khomeini Institute and a supporter of Jalili’s bid in the 2013 presidential polling, is considering once again putting his weight behind him.

It was reported in April that Jalili had held a secret meeting with Mesbah Yazdi in Qom after the Jebhe Paydari bloc (Steadfast Front), composed of Principlists and former Ahmadinejad associates, had allegedly asked Mesbah Yazdi, their spiritual leader, to persuade Jalili to run for parliament. Some analysts said the meeting reminds them of the one Jalili held with the ayatollah days before becoming a presidential candidate in 2013. They also view the meeting as Mesbah Yazdi’s first step toward taking an active role in the country’s 10th parliamentary elections.

Although organizing and planning for the upcoming elections are taking place behind closed doors, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported in May that the leaders of the three major Principlists groups had met in Qom. Unlike previous meetings of the three, the latest round — involving Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi (head of the Teachers Association of the Qom Theological Seminary), Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani (secretary-general of the Association of Combatant Clergy) and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi — did not receive much coverage by media close to conservative establishments. It was only reported that the meeting was held "with the aim of reaching unity and convergence among the Principlists.”