03 June 2024; MEMO: Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander, announced on Monday that he will run for president to succeed Ebrahim Raisi who died last month in a helicopter crash, state media have reported. According to Reuters, Qalibaf, who has contested two presidential races unsuccessfully and dropped out of a third to avoid splitting the hard-line vote, signed up to run in the 28 June election despite only being re-elected as parliament speaker last week.
“If I don’t present myself as a candidate, the work that we have started in the last few years to solve the people’s economic problems and which is reaching fruition, would not be completed,” he told reporters.
Qalibaf registered as a candidate on the last day of a five-day registration period on Monday. The cleric-led Guardian Council will vet candidates hoping to run for the presidency. Moderate politicians have accused the 12-member body of disqualifying the rivals of hard-line candidates, who are expected to dominate the race.
A lack of choice on the ballot, combined with rising discontent over an array of political, social and economic crises, could dent turnout and thus the legitimacy of Iran’s theocratic system of government.
Moderate former first vice-president Eashaq Jahagiri also registered on Monday. Other well-known figures who have signed up include hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, a prominent conservative and ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
An election official told reporters on Monday that 59 hopefuls had signed up by midday.
With Iran’s complex mix of clerical rulers and elected officials, Khamenei has the final say on all state matters such as nuclear and foreign policies. However, it is the president who is in charge of tackling Iran’s deepening economic hardship.
