Iran is holding a snap presidential election on June 28 following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
Six candidates have been approved to run for the position: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Saeed Jalili, Alireza Zakani, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Masoud Pezeshkian.
The election comes amidst tensions over Iran's nuclear programme and the Israel-Hamas war, as well as ongoing economic crisis under US and other western sanctions.
The Guardian Council approved these candidates after disqualifying 74 others.
Iran is holding a snap presidential election on June 28, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. Six candidates have been approved to run for the position, including Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the current parliament speaker and former Tehran mayor with close ties to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards. The other approved candidates are Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator; Alireza Zakani, the current Tehran mayor; Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former interior minister; Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi; and Masoud Pezeshkian, the only candidate representing moderates and reformists. The campaign will include debates, televised live on Iran's state-run broadcaster, as well as billboards and stump speeches by the candidates. None of them have offered specifics on how they plan to address Iran's economic situation under US and other western sanctions over its nuclear programme.
The Guardian Council, a constitutional vetting body, approved these candidates after disqualifying 74 others. The selection suggests Iran's Shia theocracy hopes to ease the election through amidst tensions over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme and the Israel-Hamas war. The largest recent uprising in Iran was led by women in 2022 after Mahsa Amini's death in police custody, which sparked demands for an end to clerical rule.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards and current parliament speaker, is considered the most prominent candidate. He was part of a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999 and reportedly ordered live gunfire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country's police chief.
The campaign will provide an opportunity for voters to choose their next president amidst these challenges. The Guardian Council's decision marks another election with wide disqualification of candidates, following recent votes that had record-low turnout.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and five other conservatives were approved to run in the snap presidential election on June 28 following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
Former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani were also approved to run for the presidential election.
The only candidate representing the moderates and reformists is Masoud Pezeshkian, who is also a veteran five-term lawmaker and former health minister.
Accuracy
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was approved to run in the presidential election.
The Guardian Council disqualified 74 candidates.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and moderate candidate Ali Larijani were among those disqualified from running in the election.
The presidential election was brought forward from 2025 to 2024 after Raisi died in a helicopter crash.
Seven others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, were killed in the helicopter crash that was not found to be a result of criminal activity.
The only candidate representing the moderates and reformists is Masoud Pezeshkian.
Eshaq Jahangiri, former first vice president, and Abdolnaser Hemmati, former central bank chief, were among those disqualified by the Guardian Council.
Six candidates have been approved to run in the Iranian election on June 28 to succeed President Ebrahim Raisi.
Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, a retired pilot and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, has been approved to run. He is also a former mayor of Tehran and current speaker of Parliament.
The largest recent uprising in Iran was led by women in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Protests grew to include demands for an end to clerical rule.
Accuracy
Iran is promoting hardliners as presidential candidates (The Financial Times) differs from the other articles which all mention specific names of the approved candidates.
Iran's Guardian Council approved the country's hardline parliament speaker and five others to run in the 28 June presidential election after a helicopter crash that killed the president, Ebrahim Raisi, and seven others.
The selection of candidates approved by the Guardian Council suggests Iran’s Shia theocracy hopes to ease the election through after recent votes had record-low turnout and as tensions remain high over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme and the Israel-Hamas war.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former Tehran mayor with close ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, is considered the most prominent candidate.
Ghalibaf was part of a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999 and reportedly ordered live gunfire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief.
The campaign will include debates, televised live on Iran’s state-run broadcaster, as well as billboards and stump speeches by the candidates.
None of the candidates have offered any specifics, though all have promised a better economic situation for the country under sanctions by the US and other western nations over its nuclear programme.
Accuracy
The Guardian Council disqualified Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust-questioning former president who increasingly challenged Khamenei toward the end of his term and was remembered for the bloody crackdown on the 2009 green movement protests.
The election comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the west over its arming of Russia in that country’s war on Ukraine and its support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Middle East.
Iran is promoting hardliners as presidential candidates (Article fact not found in other articles)
Accuracy
][The presidential election was brought forward from 2025 to 2024 after Raisi died in a helicopter crash.][Some sources state that the presidential election was brought forward due to Raisi's death in a helicopter crash, while others do not mention this reason.]
