Iran approves six candidates to run for president

Speaker of the Parliament of Iran Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaks at a press conference after registering as a candidate for the presidential election at the Interior Ministry, in Tehran, Iran June 3, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Iran approves six candidates to run for president

Reuters-June 9th2024

Reporting by Elwely Elwelly. Editing by Jane Merriman

DUBAI, June 9 (Reuters) – Iran’s Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation, has approved six candidates to run for president in snap elections to be held later this month after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, Iran’s State TV reported on Sunday.

On the list are Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s hardline parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards commander, Saeed Jalili, a conservative, who was former chief nuclear negotiator and ran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office for four years and Tehran’s conservative mayor Alireza Zakani, according to State TV.

The list, announced on state TV by the Election Office spokesperson, also includes Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist lawmaker, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a hardliner and a former interior minister, and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi a conservative politician.

“With the announcement of the final list of candidates, their electoral activities start officially,” state TV said.

The election is due to take place on June 28.

The Council disqualified hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, a prominent conservative, state media said.

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