Following the fatal helicopter crash of Iranian President Raisi, new elections are scheduled for June 28. An arch-conservative ex-president wants to run for office again.
In Iran, the ultra-conservative and populist former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to run for office again. The former head of state registered on Sunday for the early presidential election at the end of June, state media reported. The election was originally planned for 2025, but will now take place on June 28 following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19. Read more about the crash here.
“I am confident that all the country's problems can be solved if we make maximum use of national capacities,” Ahmadinejad said after registering his candidacy at the Interior Ministry in Tehran. The 67-year-old held the presidency for two terms from 2005 to 2013. He was barred from running in the 2021 and 2017 elections.
video | Iran's president dies in helicopter crash
Source: t-online
In 2005, Ahmadinejad made international headlines when he demanded that Iran's arch-enemy Israel be “wiped off the map.” He also called the Holocaust a “myth.” Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election in 2009 led to nationwide protests that left dozens dead and thousands arrested.
On Saturday, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Vahid Haghanian, had already registered to run for president. Like the late Raisi, whose successor he is seeking, Haghanian has been under US sanctions since 2019. The reason is his role in the “inner circle” of Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His candidacy was a “personal decision,” but he was “very familiar with the country's problems,” Haghanian said. He had established close ties with key representatives of state institutions “during his 45 years of service in the presidential administration and the Supreme Leader's Office.”
Another candidate for the office of head of state is former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani. The 66-year-old, who is considered moderate, especially in foreign policy, told journalists on Friday morning that if he won, his priorities would be to lift US sanctions against Iran and improve the economic situation.
Also on Friday, the reform-oriented former central bank chief Abdulnasser Hemmati announced his candidacy for the presidential election. He had already run in the 2021 election and came in a distant third place with 8.4 percent. The ultra-conservative former chief nuclear negotiator Sayed Jalili also wants to run for president.
The presidential candidates have been able to register since Thursday and will continue to do so until Monday, after which they must be confirmed by the Guardian Council. A decision on who will be admitted is expected to be made by June 11.
