Having tried his luck in several Iranian presidential elections, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appears to have finally abandoned his ambition of securing that position. Instead, he seems to be concentrating on a new goal — leading the new generation of hard-liners. Toward this end, on Aug. 12 Ghalibaf’s entourage released a manifesto laying out their vision of a "new conservatism," with a focus on "returning to the basics of the revolution" and "believing in the people."

Ghalibaf's journey to this point has been circuitous. He served as a military commander during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), and in 1997 he became chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) air force. From 1997 to 2005, he was among the critics of Reformist President Mohammad Khatami. During that time, in 2000, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appointed him national police chief. While in office, he acted to modernize law enforcement, which to some extent increased his popularity.

With Khatami's tenure coming to an end in 2005, Ghalibaf decided to run to replace him. During the campaign, he presented a new face to the public, depicting himself as a pilot on banners and in other media. Ghalibaf’s decision to craft an image of himself as a moderate and a technocrat was, however, to his detriment, as a number of hard-liners and conservatives branded him a liberal.

Ghalibaf's presidential bid failed, but in 2005 he became mayor of Tehran. He sought to construct a triumphal legacy in the capital, but still failed to squelch the doubts about him in the conservative camp. In the 2009 presidential elections, Ghalibaf, still mayor, was determined to register to run, but Khamenei reportedly asked him to abstain, which he did. At the time, reports emerged that Ghalibaf had provided indirect support for Mir Hossein Mousavi, the Reformist candidate, with some members of his team joining Mousavi's campaign.