Iranian electoral watchdog approves seven candidates for presidential elections

The Interior Ministry released the official list of candidates qualified by the Guardian Council on 25 May 2021. The following seven candidates are approved by the council:

Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, current Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly

Abdolnaser Hemmati, current Governor of the Central Bank

Saeed Jalili, former Secretary of Supreme National Security Council

Mohsen Mehralizadeh, former Governor of Isfahan

Ebrahim Raisi, current Chief Justice of Iran

Mohsen Rezaee, former Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Alireza Zakani, current President of the Majlis Research Center.

On the other hand, the council barred hundreds of candidates, including ex-parliament speaker Ali Larijani who was expected to be a main contender for the presidency.

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Iran on June 18, 2021.

Under the Iranian constitution, Hassan Rouhani, the incumbent president, is ineligible to run for re-election as he was limited to two terms or 8 years in office.

The president of Iran is elected for a four years term that is renewable only once. It is the country's highest directly elected official, the chief of the executive branch, and the second most important position after the Supreme Leader.

Those approved by the Guardian Council are put to a public vote on the weekend. The winner is the candidate who got 50% of the votes + 1 vote.

If no one gets enough votes, next weekend, once again, an election will be held only between the two candidates with the most votes. (ILKHA)