Iran’s Guardian Council has approved six candidates for the upcoming presidential election, predominantly Islamic hardliners aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The council vetted 80 registrants based on religious and revolutionary credentials, seemingly aiming to ensure a hardliner succeeds President Ebrahim Raisi, who recently died in a helicopter crash.
A prominent candidate is Saeed Jalili, former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and nuclear negotiator, favored by Khamenei. Jalili, known for his uncompromising stance during nuclear talks, lacks executive experience but is a staunch Islamist ideologue.
Read more: Iran announces the presidential election schedule following the tragic death of Ebrahim Raisi
Another strong contender is Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the current Speaker of Parliament and a former Revolutionary Guards general. He has also served as police chief and mayor of Tehran. One of these leading candidates might withdraw to avoid splitting the hardliner vote.
Additional hardliner candidates include Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, Vice-President Amirhossein Qazizadeh Hashemi, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the latter involved in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s.
Massoud Pezeshkian, a relatively moderate candidate and Tabriz MP, has a slim chance if voter turnout is low. As an ethnic Azeri, he could attract votes from the Turkish-speaking Azeri population in northeastern Iran. His candidacy might be a tactic
