Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi is an Iranian politician. He was a "senior adviser" to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian president

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

and deputy interior minister for political affairs. He is said to have "strong ties to the Revolutionary Guard Corps and to the

intelligence services An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of ...

" and to be "a constant presence at the president's side, in every cabinet meeting and during midday prayers at the office..." and acting "more as a cross between Iran's

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...

and a

merican ''Merican'' is an EP by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for Fat Wreck Chords and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album ''Cool to Be You'', released the follow ...

president's chief of staff." He studied with Ahmadinejad at the

Iran University of Science and Technology Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) ( fa, دانشگاه علم و صنعت ایران, ''Danushgah-e 'lâm vâ Sân't-e Iran'') is a research institution and university of engineering and science in Iran. The university is home to ...

in the late 1970s, and like Ahmadinejad, he is a dedicated student of "ultra-conservative" cleric

Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah ( fa, تقی مصباح‌; born Taqi Givechi, fa, تقی گیوه‌چی), commonly known as Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi ( fa, محمدتقی مصباح‌ یزدی, 31 January 1935 – 1 January 2021) was an Iranian Shi' ...

. Later on, thanks to their friendship, Ahmadinejad received his first official job, as the mayor of Maku and

Khoy Khoy (Persian and az, خوی; ; ; also Romanized as Khoi), is a city and capital of Khoy County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2012 census, its population was 200,985. Khoy is located north of the province's capital and largest city ...

, near the border with Turkey. Reportedly, Samareh's connections with the Basij enabled Ahmadinejad to establish relations with that group and with the Revolutionary Guard Corps. Prior to his role as adviser he was sponsored by

for, and quickly appointed to, a critical job, director of placements, at the Foreign Ministry of Iran, in the early 1990s. In September 2006 he flew to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to deliver a private message to President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

from president Ahmadinejad. Very shortly afterward, he was appointed deputy interior minister for political affairs, (though he continued his full-time duties as senior adviser). In October 2006 he was "appointed head of the election commission, supervisor of the poll for the

Assembly of Experts The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...

." Despite his close association with Mesbah-Yazdi, that cleric did not do well in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

and only came in sixth-place finish in the

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

municipality, "barely squeezing into his seat in the Assembly". Samareh Hashemi resigning from the election commission a "few months later in the summer of 2007."Majd, ''The Ayatollah Begs to Differ'', (2008), p.49–50

References

Living people Iranian Vice Ministers Iran University of Science and Technology alumni Presidential advisers of Iran Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran politicians People from Kerman Province Year of birth missing (living people) Iranian campaign managers {{Iran-politician-stub