He’s Back! Iran’s Former President Ahmadinejad Files To Run Again

According to Iran state television, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is planning another run for president in the Islamic Republic’s upcoming elections, scheduled for June 18. Ahmadinejad filed the paperwork for his run for office at an Interior Ministry registration center that opened on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad, who was president of Iran from 2005 to 2013, is mounting his campaign despite being banned from running again by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2017. The Guardian Council, a 12-member panel that must approve of all candidates, could still block his candidacy. Ahmadinejad, the sixth president of Iran, is a conservative politician who was criticized domestically for his economic policies and criticized internationally for his poor human rights record. The current president, Hassan Rouhani, cannot run again due to term limits. The presidential race reportedly has not garnered much attention in Iran, whose population is struggling under the burden of heavy economic sanctions and the devastating effects of the coronavirus.