Iran approves six candidates to run for president

DUBAI: Iran’s Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation, has approved six candidates to run for president in snap elections to be held later this month after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, State TV reported on Sunday.

On the list are Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards commander, Saeed Jalili, a conservative, who was former chief nuclear negotiator and ran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office for four years and Tehran’s conservative mayor Alireza Zakani, according to State TV.

The list, announced on state TV by the Election Office spokesperson, also includes Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist lawmaker, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former interior minister, and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi a conservative politician.

“With the announcement of the final list of candidates, their electoral activities start officially,” state TV said.

The election is due to take place on June 28.

The Council disqualified hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, a prominent conservative, state media said.