Weaponry Stayed and His Pond
Weaponry Stayed and His Pond: Hossein Salahvarzi, the President of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, was bizarrely and controversially removed from his position last week. Although he denied this news on his X network account, it seems his time at the Chamber of Commerce is over, and government interventions in Iran’s oldest non-governmental institution have taken their toll.
The election saga that took place in the spring of 2023 at the Iran Chamber of Commerce finally reached its conclusion after seven months of controversy. This election resulted in Hossein Salahvarzi being chosen as the President of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, but the government’s incompatibility with this election led to the end of Salahvarzi’s tenure as head of this non-governmental institution. But what was the story, and what was the reason for these interventions?
Many of his opponents in the Chamber of Commerce claimed that the Ministry of Information had rejected his qualifications. However, Salahvarzi made a controversial appointment in an attempt to win over his powerful opponents. This move not only failed to soften the stance of the opposition but also led his supporters to withdraw their backing, leaving Salahvarzi isolated. This isolation resulted in the less costly removal of this experienced economic manager from his new position.
Unprecedented Victory in a Controversial Election
The election held in May and June 2023 at the Iran Chamber of Commerce was one of the most controversial contests in the history of this non-governmental institution. It was a competition for the presidency of Iran’s private sector parliament but turned into a battleground for intense political clashes. It is said that the Ministry of Information disqualified a large number of candidates from participating in the election, with Hossein Salahvarzi being one of them.
However, the election was held in some manner, and the government could not see its preferred candidate, Younes Jaeleh, CEO of the Shirin Asal Industrial Group, dominate the election scene. In the end, Salahvarzi managed to win decisively with 264 votes, but this was just the beginning of the clashes, and the government showed from the outset that it had no intention of accepting the election results.
Media Maneuvering Against Salahvarzi
During the six months since the aforementioned election, the media artillery supporting the government and even the state broadcaster did not cease their hostility towards Iran’s private sector parliament. At times, even news of Salahvarzi’s resignation was published by state media outlets such as IRNA and even ISNA. However, in all instances, the new President of the Iran Chamber of Commerce denied these reports and demonstrated his strong resolve to continue in this position.
The issue was not limited to official media, as the government, through financial incentives in social network spaces, incited some Twitter and Clubhouse activists against Salahvarzi and tried to exacerbate the disputes. This trend continued to the extent that last week, the state news agency IRNA and Ali Bahadori Jahromi’s account on the X social network announced that the Supervisory Council had dismissed Hossein Salahvarzi from the presidency of the Iran Chamber of Commerce.
Salahvarzi and a Strategic Mistake
This situation led Salahvarzi, under intense political and media pressure, to take a strange and self-destructive action that caused him to lose a significant portion of his supporters. In a controversial and unprompted decision, he appointed Sasan Shah Veysi as the Secretary-General of the Iran Chamber of Commerce. This is while Shah Veysi is one of the prominent figures of Ammarion, the most radical faction within the Stability Front.
This strange move by Salahvarzi caused the media that had supported his election as President of the Chamber of Commerce to suddenly withdraw their support. Salahvarzi thought that by doing this, he could win over his powerful opponents, but now, more than two months after this appointment, it has become clear that not only did his opponents in the Chamber of Commerce not soften their stance regarding his continuation in the role, but Salahvarzi also lost his only supportive base, the non-governmental media critical of the government.
Farewell to Mr. President
The IRNA news agency published the headline ‘Salahvarzi is Leaving’ in a situation where reports suggest Younes Jaeleh and his associates are preparing to seize the presidency of the Chamber of Commerce. Interestingly, unlike previous occasions when the government tried to remove Salahvarzi, this time none of the independent and critical media of Raisi showed the slightest objection to this decision. An objection that could have increased the cost of his removal and, like before, prevented government intervention in the internal affairs of this non-governmental institution.
However, independent economic and media experts believe that Salahvarzi’s passive performance in dealing with the Stability Front and the faction associated with Ebrahim Raisi’s son-in-law only managed to silence some of his opponents in the parliament. This is because revolutionary parliament members were looking for a share from the Chamber of Commerce, and the appointment of Sasan Shah Veysi facilitated their work. Naturally, the government of Ebrahim Raisi, which has shown it cannot tolerate the slightest opposition, would not be satisfied with anything less than Salahvarzi’s removal. Therefore, Hossein stayed with his pond, and the Chamber of Commerce was entirely handed over to the Raisi government.