Following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash earlier this month, Iran's Supervisory Council, responsible for elections and legislation, has cleared six candidates to run for president in early elections scheduled to be held later this month, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday, June 9. “The final list of candidates has been announced and their election campaign will officially begin,” state TV said.
The elections are reportedly scheduled to take place on June 28th.
Who are these six candidates?
According to state television, those on the list include Saeed Jalili, a conservative former chief nuclear negotiator who ran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office for four years. Next on the list is Tehran's conservative mayor Alireza Zakhani. Also on the list is Iran's hardline parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf.
A representative of the election commission revealed the list on state television, which included three politicians: conservative Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, hardline former interior minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi and reformist lawmaker Massoud Pezeshkian.
Interestingly, hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and prominent conservative former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani were disqualified by the council, according to state media.
(Quoted from Reuters)
