Tehran's 'man of action' mayor keeps his eye on national office
Iran's Mayor Mohammed Baqr Qalibaf has tried to boost city services while showing himself at ease on the world stage.
from the April 5, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
"Everything Qalibaf does, he's got his eye on the presidency," says one friend and adviser to the mayor. When a military plane crashed into a Tehran apartment block in December 2005, for example, Qalibaf set off on a motorcycle, beating the traffic and arriving at the scene before most emergency workers.
"He was effective," says one young Iranian who worked in the Ministry of Interior at the time. "He has a reputation as an action man, as being able to move from concept to action. Among my friends, people love Qalibaf above others."
The mayor received a crucial political boost in December, when his moderate conservative allies won municipal elections in Tehran and in cities across Iran, defeating candidates loyal to his rival, Ahmadinejad, whose own four-year tenure expires in 2009.
Careful political calibration
But finding the right balance is tricky so many months before the presidential vote. The mayor's office has yet to grant an interview with foreign media and recently cancelled a much-anticipated press conference.
"Qalibaf has to walk on very cautiously, to do some publicity, but not too much," says a Western diplomat. "He's not an ideological man; he's a technocrat."
But Qalibaf is also not afraid to reach far beyond Tehran. When he describes environmental issues, he talks in global terms. And in a lecture last month, he spoke of Iran's need for a "dynamic diplomacy" to accommodate "new situations" abroad.
The mayor accused the US of "hegemonic" policies in the Middle East. Signaling that he might pursue a less aggressive foreign policy for Iran, Qalibaf said, "A lot of time has passed" since the 1979 Islamic revolution, and that "competition along with collaboration will take the place of opposition and disagreement."
Iranians laud Qalibaf for a string of thoughtful innovations while noting that he has little of the personal speaking charisma that surrounds characters such as Ahmadinejad. As national police chief, Qalibaf created an emergency telephone number for police (110), decked out the force in new uniforms, and instilled a new professionalism.
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