The names of six candidates have been finally announced to compete in Iran’s 14th presidential election. However, the former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not approved this time.
The candidates are – Masoud Pezeshkian, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Saeed Jalili, Ali Reza Zakani, Amir Hossain Kazizadeh Hashemi and Mohammad Baker Kolibaf.The names of these six candidates were officially announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday (June 9).
80 politicians, including the parliament speaker, who wanted to be candidates for this year’s election, registered their names in Iran’s Guardian Council. After the scrutiny, the candidature of six people was finalized and sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. After that, the Ministry of Home Affairs officially announced the names of the candidates.
Nationalist politician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president of Iran for two consecutive terms from 2005 to 2013.
Brief Introduction of Candidates
1. Masoud Pezeshkian – Member of Parliament and Minister of Health and Medicine under Mohammad Khatami’s regime.
2. Mostafa Purmohammadi was the Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhani’s government.
3. Dr. Saeed Jalili – Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator and member of Iran’s policy-making council. He withdrew from the 13th presidential election by supporting Syed Ibrahim Raisi.
4. Ali Reza Zakani – Mayor of Tehran and former presidential candidate. He also withdrew from the contest in the last election by supporting Ibrahim Raisi.
5. Syed Amir Hossain Kazizade Hashemi – Member of Parliament elected several times.
6. Mohammad Baker Kolibaf – Former Mayor of Tehran and current Speaker of the Iranian Parliament.
This election process started after some important officials including President Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian were martyred in a helicopter crash on May 19.
According to Articles 131 and 132 of the Iranian Constitution, a new president must be elected within a maximum of 50 days if a president dies or becomes incapacitated.
Iran’s Ministry of Interior holds the main responsibility of organizing and conducting elections. However, the responsibility of scrutinizing the candidature lies with the Guardian or Guardian Council.
The election campaign will start from June 12 and will continue till June 27.
The presidential election will be held in Iran on Friday, June 28.
Sources: Perstoday, Times of Israel and other