For the upcoming presidential elections in Iran, nine candidates have registered their candidacy so far.
The five-day registration of candidacies, which began on May 30th, will end on June 3rd, and the final list of candidates will be published on June 11th.
Iran’s early elections are being held following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19th with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others.
Iranian media reports that Saeed Jalili, the former chief negotiator in the European Union (EU)-Iran nuclear negotiations, first announced his candidacy on May 30th.
The radical Jalili is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and headed his office in the early 2000s.
He currently serves as one of Khamenei’s two representatives on the Supreme National Security Council.
Jalili has long advocated a radical stance against the West and was a major critic of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.
He ran for president for the first time in 2013, finishing third with just over 11 percent of the vote. He also ran for the 2021 elections but dropped out in favor of Raisi.
Another big name that applied was Ali Larijani, the former speaker of the parliament, who registered his candidacy on May 31st.
The candidacy of the moderate 65-year-old politician, who was once considered a political radical, has been disqualified for the 2021 presidential elections.
Another well-known name to apply is Mostafa Kavakebian, a reformist politician and two-term MP who is barred from running in the 2021 elections.
Iranian media speculate that a handful of prominent conservative names and low-profile reformist figures could apply in the next few days.
More than 35 people have applied to register their candidacy since May 30th, but most have not met the requirements, said a spokesman for Iran’s election headquarters.
Since 2020, Iran has held two parliamentary and presidential elections, all of which had record-low turnouts.
In recent elections, the authorities severely limited the electoral field by disqualifying many moderate and reformist candidates, which may have contributed to low voter turnout. This was especially evident in the parliamentary elections in February, which were held in parallel.
However, analysts say that the public’s disillusionment with the government is so great that even if moderate voices were allowed to emerge, it would not significantly affect voter turnout.
