Tehran [Iran], May 31: The registration period has begun for candidates hoping to run in Iran's presidential election in just over a month's time. To register their bid, candidates must appear in person at the Interior Ministry in the next five days.
The snap election was called because the previous incumbent, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter accident on May 19. Once all the candidates have registered, Iran's Guardian Council will decide within a week which are ideologically suitable for the post of president.
The council is a powerful supervisory body made up of Islamic clerics and lawyers. Politicians from the reformist camp in particular have often been excluded from elections in the past.
Observers are waiting to see whether the Guardian Council will allow more moderate candidates to stand. Otherwise, arch-conservatives and hardliners are likely to continue to determine the country's political future.
The candidates authorized by the Guardian Council will then have two weeks to campaign.
If no one achieves an absolute majority of the votes in the first round of the election on June 28, a run-off election a week later will decide the future president.
Since Raisi's death, the country has been buzzing with rumours about possible successors.
Ex-presidents Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are among those being mentioned most often in relation to the presidency. Only Raisi's deputy Mohammad Mokhber and the former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili have confirmed so far that they will run. Both are arch-conservatives and would most likely continue Raisi's policies.
Former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, who is seen as a moderate-conservative, is also expected to run.
On the reformist side, Mohsen Hashemi, the son of the late cleric and influential ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is being touted as a leading candidate, according to the Tasnim news agency. Although the 62-year-old has not confirmed reports that he will run, he has not denied them either. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
