WORLD | Politics
In surprise move, Iran’s Ahmadinejad registers to run for President
Iran’s former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the shock move on Wednesday of registering for next month’s presidential election, going against the advice of the supreme leader.
Ahmadinejad had previously insisted he would not stand after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last year that his candidacy would have a “polarising” effect on the nation, and instead backed his exdeputy Hamid Baghaie.
But the former president — whose tenure between 2005 and 2013 saw mass protests at home, plummeting relations with the West and a shattered economy — surprised everyone when he registered along with Baghaie on Wednesday.
He told reporters at the interior ministry, where registration was taking place, that he remained committed to his “moral promise” to Khamenei of not running for the May 19 election.
But he said Khamenei’s “advice was not a ban”.
“I repeat that I am committed to my moral promise and my presence and registration is only to support Mr Baghaie,” he added without explanation.
Only last week, flanked by his former deputy at his first press conference in four years, Ahmadinejad said he had “no plans to present myself. I support Mr Baghaie as the best candidate.”
Ahmadinejad lost the support of many mainstream conservatives during his contentious presidency, and some said on Wednesday that violating the supreme leader’s advice was a final straw.
“With today’s move, registering for the presidential election, my belief in you was broken,” ex-lawmaker and Ahmadinejad loyalist Mehdi Koochakzadeh wrote on social media.