On Sunday, the Iranian Ministry of Inside launched the ultimate checklist of candidates certified to compete within the election for the ninth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This election will decide who will succeed the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who, together with seasoned prime diplomat Overseas Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and seven others, handed away in a helicopter accident on Could 19, through the third yr of his presidency.
In his stead, and by the structure, First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber was named interim president. He will probably be changed by a successor following an election that should happen inside 50 days of Raisi’s demise being declared. Candidates working for president should be authorized by the 12-member Guardian Council to make sure their dedication to the ideas of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which established the Islamic Republic.
The checklist was supplied to the Inside Ministry by the highly effective Guardian Council of the Iranian Structure, an entity consisting of six appointed clerics and 6 elected jurists whose essential job is to vet the candidates vying for elections in Iran and certify ballot outcomes. Amid a lot hypothesis, six candidates made it to the ultimate checklist, stunning many by excluding well-known figures resembling three-term speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, and two-term president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The candidates are Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Amir-Hossein Ghazi-Zadeh Hashemi, Saeed Jalili, Masoud Pezeshkian, Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi, and Alireza Zakani.
A better have a look at the candidates
Mohammad-Baqer Ghalibaf (62 years outdated), a two-term lawmaker from Tehran and former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) member, has held numerous key positions over the previous three many years. His roles embody member of the Expediency Council, commander of the Police Power, and Mayor of Tehran from 2005 to 2017.
Regardless of quite a few bids for the presidency in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, and now in 2024, he has but to succeed. His latest nomination sparked criticism because it got here simply 5 days after he secured the votes of practically 200 lawmakers to develop into the speaker of the brand new parliament.
Doctor Amir-Hossein Ghazi-Zadeh Hashemi (53 years outdated) is a conservative and four-term lawmaker and was chairman of the Martyrs and Battle Veterans Basis in the Raisi administration. The Guardian Council authorized his candidacy within the 2021 presidential race, the place he garnered lower than 1,000,000 votes. He’s the one Raisi administration candidate to have made the Guardian Council lower, which dilutes the criticism of reformists who additionally solely have one candidate within the working.
Former lead nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili (59 years outdated) is a politician deeply loyal to Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He has been rewarded for his loyalty by being certainly one of Khamenei’s three representatives on the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, the place he additionally served as secretary for seven years from 2006 to 2013.
An Iran–Iraq battle veteran who misplaced a leg in that battle, Jalili is understood for his firm stance throughout nuclear negotiations with western nations within the early 2000s. He was a vocal critic of the 2015 nuclear deal and opposed its revival beneath Raisi’s presidency.
Jalili ran towards President Hassan Rouhani within the 2013 election, rating third with 4 million votes. He was nominated once more in 2021 however withdrew in help of Raisi’s candidacy.
A coronary heart surgeon and former well being minister beneath President Mohammad Khatami (2001–2005), Masoud Pezeshkian (70 years outdated) is a five-term Reformist lawmaker from East Azerbaijan province. He’s certainly one of three candidates backed by the Reformist Entrance of Iran, who pledged to take part provided that the Guardian Council authorized at the least certainly one of their candidates. Regardless of accusations towards him for advocating federalism and pan-Turkism, the Guardian Council’s approval of Pezeshkian’s candidacy strongly suggests these rumors are unfounded.
Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi (65 years outdated), initially from Qom, is a decide and prosecutor who rose to develop into senior director at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. He served as Inside Minister beneath President Ahmadinejad (2005–2008) earlier than being dismissed on account of variations with him.
Underneath President Rouhani, he was appointed Minister of Justice regardless of allegations of human rights violations associated to the execution of Mujahedeen-e Khalgh Group (MKO) members within the late Eighties.
Pour-Mohammadi, together with the late President Raisi, was on the panel that dominated on these executions. He was additionally a member of the Meeting of Specialists till he did not safe sufficient votes within the March 2024 election.
Alireza Zakani (59 years outdated) is a physician-turned-conservative politician, the present mayor of Tehran, and a four-term lawmaker from Tehran and Qom constituencies. Though he was disqualified within the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, Zakani was admitted in 2021 and supported then-candidate Ebrahim Raisi. His present nomination raised suspicions that he goals to play the same supporting function for Saeed Jalili, which he denies.
What’s subsequent?
The Guardian Council has authorized three physicians, a cleric, a former diplomat, and Ghalibaf, the jack of all trades. Its spokesman introduced that the candidates might begin their two-week marketing campaign instantly.
Iranians now have two weeks to determine whether or not to take part within the election and, if that’s the case, whom to vote for. Voter turnout within the 2021 election was 48.8 p.c, one of the lowest within the Islamic Republic’s historical past, as Raisi acquired practically 62 p.c of the votes, barely reaching 18 million.
Following the big attendance for Raisi’s funeral, the Islamic Republic hopes the same quantity will go to the polls on June 28 and surpass the turnout from three years in the past.
Within the weeks forward, the candidates should not solely enchantment to their base but additionally attain out to undecided voters, addressing their issues and presenting a imaginative and prescient that resonates with the broader inhabitants. The flexibility to mobilize help and encourage confidence will probably be essential in figuring out who will lead Iran by way of its subsequent chapter.
As in most mainstream polls over the previous few years, the main candidates look like within the conservative camp, with Jalil and Ghalibaf holding robust leads. But when previous elections are any indicator, public sentiment can shift dramatically through the two quick weeks of campaigning, as was seen in Rouhani’s first election, when he raced to a transparent lead after trailing in polls for weeks.
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