Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was spotted at Khamenei’s funeral events on Monday. The appearance is important because, according to Al-Ain media in the UAE, Ahmadinejad has not appeared in public since February 28, when the US and Israel began strikes on Iran. He has now returned from the “brink of death.”
The former Iranian president was believed for a time to possibly be dead due to the bombing on the first day of the war. However, subsequent reports made it seem that the bombing was actually intended to free him from a kind of house arrest. These reports, in May, suggested that there was hope that Ahmadinejad might actually be helpful in some form of regime change.
He is one of many leaders and former leaders of Iran whose fates have been entwined with the war. Mystery surrounds Ahmadinejad.
He was president of Iran from 2005 to 2013, key years when the nuclear program was in the spotlight. He was a key figure in Iran’s nuclear program and its perception as an increasing threat to Israel and the world.
This was also the lead-up to the Iran deal that the Obama administration signed in 2015.
Since leaving office, Ahmadinejad appeared to retire to a modest life. He also became more active on social media, including commenting on American sports and getting involved in supporting various causes. This post-presidential life appeared to present him in a new light. No longer the fire-breathing Holocaust denier, he appeared to be living a kind of Hobbit-like existence wrapped in eccentricity.
No other previous Iranian presidents attend Khamenei’s funeral
Khamenei’s funeral did not involve any of the former presidents of Iran in any official capacity. They have all be pushed aside. Iran is now believed to be moving more toward a kind of military dictatorship, even if the country still officially has a civilian president. This means the IRGC and security forces are calling the shots. The new supreme leader, a son of Khamenei, was not present. He is reported to be wounded and in hiding since the end of February.
Al-Ain media noted that “since the outbreak of war on February 28, in which a large number of Iranian political and military leaders were killed, Ahmadinejad had not appeared, and no official confirmation or denial of his fate had been issued, amid conflicting reports about his death, leaving his situation among the many doubts that prevailed in the early days of the American and Israeli strikes.”
The report said that on Monday he was seen in public “for the first time since the war, moving among mourners wearing a jacket and a mask that had been pulled up to his throat. Iranian state media published a picture of Ahmadinejad, showing him among his bodyguards and with mourners in a street in Tehran.”
What comes next for Ahmadinejad?
There is interest in what may come next for Iran’s former president. The reports in Western media suggesting that there was a plan to install him in a leadership role may cast a cloud over him.
Similar reports in Western media suggesting that IRGC Quds Force head Ismail Qaani is a double agent have also cast a cloud over him.
Al-Ain media noted that “Ahmadinejad was known for his harsh statements against Israel during his presidency. His reappearance came a day after the absence of the other two living former presidents – Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani – from the ceremony, with critics saying they had not been invited.”
The funeral has continued this week as Khamenei’s body was taken to Qom and now to Najaf in Iraq. This is expected to be a week-long event galvanizing support for Iran. On Monday, Al-Ain added that “the ceremonies today take place in the city of Qom, which is home to the most prominent Shiite religious schools and a large number of shrines and holy sites, the day after the coffin was laid to rest in the capital, Tehran. The funeral procession is scheduled to travel to the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala on Tuesday, before returning to Iran, where the body will be buried on the ninth of this month in his hometown of Mashhad.”
