Iran has officially announced six candidates for the upcoming presidential election on June 28, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
The candidates, primarily conservatives, were selected from 80 registered hopefuls by the Guardian Council, which oversees elections in the Islamic Republic.
The approved candidates include: are Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (the conservative speaker of parliament), Saeed Jalili (an ultraconservative and former nuclear negotiator), Massoud Pezeshkian (the sole reformist candidate, who is a lawmaker representing Tabriz in parliament), Mostafa Pourmohammadi (a conservative and former interior minister), Alireza Zakaani (the conservative mayor of Tehran), and Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi (the ultraconservative head of the Martyrs' Foundation and incumbent vice president).
Notably, former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was disqualified from presidential races in 2017 and 2021, has been excluded once again. Other significant figures barred from running include moderate ex-parliament speaker Ali Larijani and Vahid Haghanian, a former commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The Guardian Council has previously faced criticism for disqualifying numerous reformist and moderate candidates, which contributed to the ultraconservative Raisi's rise to power in 2021. That election saw a record low turnout of just 48.8%.
As the election approaches, the selected candidates will vie for the presidency in a political landscape dominated by conservative influence and stringent oversight by the Guardian Council.