Following the sudden resignation of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi last month, speculation has been growing that Mohsen Hashemi, the eldest son of the late former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, could become his successor. However, it seems as if the Reformists are not in favor of such a move and could thus prevent him from obtaining the post. Yet after two failed attempts, the younger Hashemi seems to be closer than ever to becoming Tehran’s mayor.

Sept. 8, 2013, was in all likelihood a memorable but bitter day for Hashemi as the Tehran City Council re-elected his rival, then-Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, for a third term in office. Although Mohsen came close to winning and had the same number of votes as his rival in the first round of voting, Ghalibaf succeeded in winning over the council members in the runoff. Four years later, in May 2017, the Reformists released a 21-member list of candidates for the Tehran City Council elections later that month. This list, which was drawn up with the supervision and emphasis of former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami, succeeded in winning all the seats on the Tehran City Council. Hashemi, who was the lead candidate on the ticket, has been at the center of speculation about his becoming mayor ever since. This is particularly the case since he refused a pre-vote agreement with the Reformists, which obliged successful City Council candidates to refrain from running for mayor.

The Reformists, particularly those close to the Union of Islamic Iran People’s Party, were not too keen on the idea of Hashemi becoming mayor. They argued that their coalition victory would be endangered if Hashemi decided to run for mayor and would thus leave the door open for the 22nd council seat to go to former council chairman Mehdi Chamran, thus opening the door for a Principlist in the Reformist-controlled body.

Meanwhile, another major pro-reform group, the Executives of Construction Party, supported Hashemi as mayor. In the end, he was not considered for the post, and another Executives of Construction Party member, Mohammad Ali Najafi, was elected as mayor amid strong Principlist opposition.