Iran Approves 6 Presidential Candidates, Blocks Ahmadinejad Again

Via Syndicated Feed

Cover Image Attribute: Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, May 2016. / Source: Mostafameraji/Wikimedia Commons

On Sunday (June 9), Iran’s Guardian Council  (Persian: شورای نگهبان, romanized: Shourā-ye Negahbān)  approved the hard-line parliament speaker and five others to run in the June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others.
The council once again disqualified former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known for the crackdown after his contentious 2009 re-election, from running.
This decision marks the beginning of a brief, two-week campaign to find a successor for Raisi, a staunch supporter of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was once considered a potential heir to the 85-year-old leader.
The candidates approved by the Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists under Khamenei’s oversight, indicate that Iran’s Shiite theocracy aims to smooth the election process after recent votes saw record-low turnout and amid ongoing tensions over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Guardian Council continued to exclude women and anyone advocating for significant changes to the country's governance.
The campaign will likely feature live, televised debates on Iran’s state-run broadcaster. Candidates will also use billboards and stump speeches to promote their bids.
So far, none of the candidates have provided specific plans. However, they all promise to improve the country's economic situation amid sanctions from the U.S. and other Western nations over its nuclear program, which is now enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels than ever before.
While state matters ultimately remain under Khamenei’s control, past presidents have varied approaches to engaging or confronting the West.
The most prominent candidate is Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, 62, a former Tehran mayor with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard. However, many remember Qalibaf for his role as a former Guard general in the violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999 and for reportedly ordering live gunfire against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief.
Qalibaf previously ran for president in 2005 and 2013 without success. He withdrew from the 2017 campaign to support Raisi in his initial unsuccessful presidential bid. After all significant opponents were disqualified, Raisi eventually won the 2021 election, which saw the lowest voter turnout in Iran’s presidential election history.
In a recent speech, Khamenei hinted at qualities that Qalibaf’s supporters have highlighted, potentially indicating the supreme leader's support for him.
However, Qalibaf's involvement in past crackdowns may be viewed differently now, given the years of unrest in Iran over its struggling economy and the mass protests following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly.
Other candidates include Saeed Jalili, a former senior nuclear negotiator who ran in 2013 and registered in 2021 before withdrawing to support Raisi. Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani also withdrew in 2021 to back Raisi. Mostafa Pourmohammadi is a former minister of justice, and Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Raisi’s vice president, ran in the 2021 presidential elections and finished last with just under 1 million votes.
Masoud Pezeshkian, the only reformist candidate among a group of hardliners, is not considered to have much of a chance.
The Guardian Council disqualified former president Ahmadinejad, who was known for his controversial statements and challenges to Khamenei toward the end of his term. Ahmadinejad is also remembered for the violent crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests and was also disqualified in the previous election.
The council also blocked former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative closely associated with former moderate President Hassan Rouhani. This marks the second consecutive election in which Larijani has been barred from running.
Former Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, who ran in 2021, and Eshaq Jahangiri, who served as vice president under moderate President Hassan Rouhani, were also disqualified.
The election takes place amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West due to Iran's support of Russia in the war on Ukraine. Additionally, Iran's backing of militia proxy forces throughout the Middle East is under scrutiny as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and others were killed in a helicopter crash on May 19 in the far northwest of Iran. While investigations are ongoing, authorities report no immediate signs of foul play in the crash on a cloud-covered mountainside.
Raisi was the second Iranian president to die in office, following President Mohammad Ali Rajai, who was killed in a bomb blast in 1981 during the turbulent period after the Islamic Revolution.
IndraStra Global Staff has not edited this story, which is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.

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