Iran’s Presidential race is on! On May 30 it opened up its 5-day registration period for aspiring Presidential candidates. The winner of the June 28 election will replace Ebrahim Raisi, the late President who, along with several other high officials in the Iranian government, was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
The election comes at a crucial juncture in recent Iranian history. In addition to the fallout from the May 19 aviation disaster, Iran is currently facing heightened tensions with the United States, and several waves of civil unrest including the ongoing protest movement against the death of Masha Amini in 2022.
The 85 year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kahmenei still holds the final word on all state matters, the office of President in the Islamic Republic of Iran is not without influence. Previous occupants of the office have, for example, been able to bend the nation towards increased hostility with or greater conciliation towards the Western powers.
During the five-day candidate registration period, citizens between the ages of 40 and 75, who hold a master’s degree or greater, may register to be considered as candidates. Iran’s 12-member Guardian Council—a panel composed of jurists and clerics over which Kahmenei holds final authority—will ultimately approve or deny the application for candidacy. The panel has never accepted a reformer, a radical, or a woman for candidacy.
Iran’s Interior Ministry, which runs the nation’s police force, is in charge of elections and does not tolerate international observers well. The Interior Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, opened the registration period.
Raisi, the deceased President, was Kahmenei’s protoge, won the 2021 Iranian presidential election with the help of the Guardian Council, which made it a point to disqualify any candidate that stood much chance of drawing support away from him. As Raisi was not popular, the election saw the lowest presidential voter turnout in Iranian history, and voter dissatisfaction has grown since then. The 2024 parliamentary elections saw calls for boycotts and lower turnout.
