Former hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered on Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential election, in a bid to regain the position after the country’s president was killed in a helicopter crash.
The former president’s registration increased pressure on the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During his tenure, Ahmadinejad openly defied the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was rejected by the authorities.
The return of the combative Holocaust-denying politician came at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over the rapid advance of Iran’s nuclear program, its supply of weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine and its widespread persecution of dissent. .
Meanwhile, Iranian support for allied militias in the Middle East has been gaining relevance with attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen against ships in the Red Sea due to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Ahmadinejad was the most prominent candidate registered at the moment. In statements after registering, he promised to seek “constructive interaction” with the world and improve economic relations with all countries.
“The economic, political, cultural and security problems go beyond the situation in 2013,” Ahmadinejad said, referring to the year in which he left the presidency after two terms.
After speaking to reporters in front of some 50 microphones, Ahmadinejad raised a finger and said: “Long live spring, long live Iran!”
Before his arrival at the Interior Ministry, his supporters chanted slogans and waved Iranian flags. They soon surrounded Ahmadinejad, 67, shouting “God is great!”
The former president walked down the stairs of the ministry and showed his passport, as is customary, to dozens of photographers and journalists covering the registration process. While a woman processed her candidacy, he sat facing the journalists and nodded and smiled for the cameras.
They have been summoned elections for June 28 to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline politician and Khamenei protégé, who died in a helicopter crash in May along with seven others.
He former speaker of parliament Ali Larijania conservative very close to the relatively moderate former president Hassan Rohani, had already signed up, as had former head of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnasser Hemmatiwhich was also presented in 2021.
It was unclear who else might try to run.. The acting president of the country, Mohammad Mokhber, until now a discreet bureaucrat, could be the favorite because he has already been seen meeting with Khamenei. He is also being considered as a possible candidate for former reformist president Mohamad Khatami, but like Ahmadinejad, it is not clear whether his candidacy would be accepted.
The five-day registration period ends Tuesday, and The Guardian Council is expected to publish its final list of candidates within 10 days. That would allow for an abbreviated two-week campaign before the elections at the end of June.
Ahmadinejad served two four-year terms between 2005 and 2013. Under Iranian law, he could run again after four years out of office, but he remains a divisive figure even among hardliners. His disputed re-election in 2009 sparked huge “Green Movement” protests and a harsh crackdown in which thousands of people were detained and dozens killed.
Abroad he became a caricature of Western perceptions of the Islamic Republic’s darker side by questioning the Holocaust, insisting that Iran had no gay citizens, and suggesting that Iran could build a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so.
However, it remains popular among the poor for its populist initiatives and housing construction programs. Since he left office he has increased his social media presence and writes highly publicized letters to world leaders. He has also criticized corruption in the government, although his own administration was accused of bribery and two of his vice presidents were jailed.
Khamenei warned Ahmadinejad in 2017 that if he ran for office again would create a “divisive situation” that would be “harmful to the country”. Khamenei said nothing during Ahmadinejad’s 2021 bid, when his candidacy was rejected by the 12-member Guardian Council, a committee of clerics and jurists overseen by pro-Khamenei. That committee has never accepted a woman or anyone who calls for drastic changes in the country’s governance.
That committee could reject Ahmadinejad again. However, the fight to replace Raisi has not yet attracted any candidate with clear support and difference from Khamenei.
(With information from AP)
