Registration for Iran's Prez Polls Begins After Raisi's Crash!
Iran started a five-day registration period on Thursday for candidates wanting to run in the June 28 presidential election to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash recently with seven others. The election comes as Iran deals with the aftermath of the May 19 crash, increased tensions between Tehran and the US, and protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini that have swept the country. While Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, maintains final say over all state matters, past presidents have steered Iran toward either more cooperation or more hostility with the West.
Candidates aged 40 to 75 with at least a master's degree can register during the five-day period. All candidates must ultimately be approved by Iran's 12-member Guardian Council, a board of clerics and legal scholars overseen by Khamenei. This council has never accepted a woman or anyone calling for radical change in the government. Raisi, a protégé of Khamenei, won Iran's 2021 presidential election after the Guardian Council disqualified all serious challengers. That vote saw the lowest turnout in Iran's history for a presidential election, likely reflecting voter dissatisfaction with both the hardline cleric, sanctioned by the US partly for his role in mass executions in 1988, and Iran's Shiite theocratic government over forty years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
It remains to be seen who will run and possibly be accepted. Acting President Mohammad Mokhber, a former behind-the-scenes bureaucrat, could be a frontrunner since he has already been seen meeting with Khamenei. Also mentioned as potential candidates are former hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, but whether they would be allowed to run is uncertain. The five-day registration period will close on Tuesday. The Guardian Council is expected to announce its final list of candidates within ten days, allowing for a shortened two-week campaign before the late June vote.
The new president will take office while the country continues to enrich uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and hinders international inspections. Iran has supplied Russia in its war on Ukraine and launched drone and missile attacks on Israel amid the Gaza conflict. Tehran has also continued arming proxy groups in the Middle East, such as Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.
