Frank Gallagher's List: Qalibaf

• Previously, ‎the website Tabnak had reported an agreement among Ghalibaf and other potential ‎contenders Velayati and Mohsen Rezaei, and other special Norouz journals had named ‎Ghalibaf as Ahmadinejad’s most serious Principalist rival. ‎
• Nevertheless, Raja News reported that Ahmadinejad’s Principalist rival would be ‎Mohsen Rezaei, and Ghalibaf and Velayati have accepted to serve as his vice presidents. ‎
• Now, it appears that Ghalibaf was concerned about that bitter experience, which was ‎prompted by a change of heart among the regime’s senior leadership during the final ‎weeks of the campaign.
• These movements, ‎however, did not last long as, responding to Ghalibaf’s questions during Norouz visits, ‎several of the regime’s senior figures have advised Ghalibaf not to run in the presidential ‎race.”‎

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• we have not put any development project on hold. We decide on a project and push for its completion.

  • Comparison to Rafa's construction jihad?
• Shora-Yaari, or assisting councils.
• We have divided Tehran into 380 neighbourhoods with defined geography. People have elected their representatives to these councils to take over some development work. The work might be small-scale but is important. This helps people take part [in the city’s development] from their doorstep.

• A series of medium-scale projects have been carried out by the municipality’s representative offices in [22] zones.

  The third level is for big projects which are done at national level, like Milad Tower, construction of highways, giant junctions and cultural centres like Azadi Cinema [the original building was burnt down in 1997] over 10,000 square metres of land. Rebuilding the cinema will take less than 18 months and we are going to hold the Fajr Film Festival this year there in co-ordination with the culture ministry.
• in Artists House

  • WTF! Neocons in Artists House?!
    
    Surely a set piece?

• A: The government owes money to us on two fronts. The government like other people has to pay taxes for its buildings, like ministries, because they are inflicting costs on the city. The government doesn’t meet this part. The government owes us 500bn tomans in this respect, which in some cases go back to five or seven years ago. Unfortunately, the debts are going up.

  • Du to clash with Ahmadinejad?
• This agreement was made when Mr [Morteza] Haji was the minister of education [in the previous reformist government].

  • Explicitly points out cooperation with reformist predecessor
• As a matter of principle, I don’t believe in populism and fooling the masses. If you look into my background, you don’t find such moves. Wherever I’ve worked, it has been completely principled, logical, scientific and systematic.
• It is an invaluable experience at the age of 19 and 20 to be in charge of 15,000 people during [Iran-Iraq] war [1980-1988]. This happens to few people.
• I said my first plan was to go to war front to die but I didn’t die.

  • Nod to Basiji martytdom

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• political observers believe Qalibaf is behind the Reformist Fundamentalists' Coalition, which split from the main conservative coalition before last week's elections. (Candidates loosely allied with the coalition have captured 70 seats in the new parliament.
• TIME's Nahid Siamdoust in Tehran
• the technical, scientific and economic needs of our young people, and respect people's private sphere.
• Professionally, our relations are not very warm ...
• We believe that the ideals for which we mounted a revolution can provide us with both material and spiritual growth and also guarantee our well-being in the other world, and hence, allow us to live with dignity in this world. I and thousands like me who fought Saddam's forces in the battlefields are bringing the same mentality to our work.

  • Great Soundbite!
    
    Loyal to the revolution... defined by the war.
• You can't be irrational in war.
• But it's natural that these younger generations have newer outlooks on life and we must accommodate them. The world is going through constant change and I believe that there are a lot of good things happening in the West that we can use here in Iran. Just because we've had an Islamic revolution doesn't mean we can't take example of good developments in other parts of the world.
• I think one of the people who has had the most impact on me, certainly in my professional life, is Shahid Beheshti
• The main point is that our economy is public and must be privatized.
• I think the rise in oil prices was a golden opportunity that the government not only didn't take advantage of, but even turned it into a threat to domestic production because of the high volume of imports that the government pursued with the oil money.
• We need to proceed with reason and with a more suitable rhetoric.
• Right now, the U.S. is supporting powers in this region who don't even value the 50% of their populations who are women, where there is no democracy, no elections, and whatever little there is in exercise of people's power is ceremonial.

  • Ouch!

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• Ahmad Sadri, sociology professor at Lake Forest College in Illinois.
• Taghi Dejakam, deputy editor at Kayhan newspaper
• Meir Javedanfar, a Middle East analyst.

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