7 candidates approved for June 18 Iranian presidential election
PTI, May 25, 2021, 3:48 PM IST
Ebrahim Raisi
Tehran: Iran named seven candidates Tuesday for its June 18 presidential election, approving the candidacy of the hard-line cleric running the country’s judiciary while barring a former parliament speaker allied to the country’s current president.
The decision by Iran’s Guardian Council puts judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, who ran against President Hassan Rouhani in 2017, in a dominant position for the upcoming vote.
He’s the most-known candidate of the seven hopefuls, with opinion polling previously showing his anti-corruption campaign drawing popular support.
The announcement on state television didn’t discuss the fact that former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative who allied with Rouhani in recent years, had been barred.
Larijani had been positioning himself as a pragmatic candidate who would back Rouhani’s signature 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. That accord is now in tatters as diplomats in Vienna try to negotiate a return of both Iran and the US to the agreement.
Also barred was former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rouhani’s senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, a reformist.
Ahmadinejad ignored a warning from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2017 and registered, only to be rejected then as well by the Guardian Council.
During an earlier session of parliament on Tuesday, lawmaker Ahmad Alirezabeigi described Ahmadinejad’s home as being “under siege” by security forces since the day before.
He also warned that the decision would suppress turnout.
Iran’s theocracy since its 1979 Islamic Revolution has based its legitimacy in part on turnout in elections.
State TV earlier quoted Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman of the Guardian Council, as saying “only seven” had been approved out of some 590 who registered by the panel of clerics and jurists overseen by Khamenei.
In 2017, 1,630 hopefuls registered to run.
Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.
Top News
Related Articles More
‘Idiot’: Former Canadian Sikh minister slams Justin Trudeau over Khalistan issue
Canadian cop suspended for attending pro-Khalistan protest outside Hindu temple
US going to historically tight presidential election
Expect Canadian government to ensure justice, uphold rule of law: PM Modi
Khalistanis clash with people at Hindu temple in Canada, Trudeau says unacceptable
MUST WATCH
Latest Additions
Waqf Issue: JPC chair Jagdambika Pal to visit Hubballi, Vijayapura on November 7
Maharashtra Polls: Eknath Shinde targets Uddhav for `giving up’ Bal Thackeray’s principles for power
Shivamogga: Wild elephant dies due to electrocution form farm fence; Landowner detained
Folk singer Sharda Sinha’s condition critical, PM in direct contact with treating doctors
Weight loss could help one manage PCOS symptoms, study suggests
Thanks for visiting Udayavani
You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.