Iran’s Guardian Council Announces 6 Individuals Permitted To Run in Country’s Next Presidential Election
The Guardian Council has approved six candidates, including Iran’s current hard-line parliament speaker, to run in the country’s upcoming snap presidential election, Iranian state television reported on Sunday. The candidates will have less than three days to argue why they should succeed former President Ebrahim Raisi in the June 28 election.
Among those approved to run are Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former mayor of Tehran and a high-ranking officer in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Ghalibaf has the highest public profile among the six candidates; however, his well-known role in violent crackdowns on dissidents sours his reputation among many in the Iranian public.
To run for president, Iran requires approval from the Guardian Council, a 12-member body of clerics and jurists responsible for ensuring candidates, elections, and legislation adhere to Islamic values. Ultimately, however, the council is loyal to the ayatollah, Iran’s supreme political and religious leader, Ali Khamenei.
Other candidates include Saeed Jalili, a former staffer in the ayatollah’s office; Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani; former Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi; Raisi’s vice president, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi; and Masoud Pezeshkian, the only reformist approved to run.
Notable individuals disqualified from the race include former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative populist known to provoke and sometimes split from the ayatollah, as well as Eshaq Jahangiri, who served as vice president under moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
