Rouhani in, Ahmadinejad out in upcoming Iran race
Guardian Council approves six candidates for election but former leader and all 130 women who registered are turned down
TEHRAN // The president, Hassan Rouhani, is one of six candidates approved by Iran’s conservative-dominated Guardian Council to run in next month’s election, but former leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in office from 2013 to 2015, was barred.
The other candidates selected were hardliners Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Mirsalim, Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, veteran Mostafa Hashemitaba and Mr Rouhani’s ally and vice president Eshaq Jahangiri.
Mr Rouhani, a politically moderate cleric, has won praise since his landslide win in 2013 for taming inflation and reaching a groundbreaking nuclear deal with world powers that ended many sanctions.
Mr Rouhani retains the unified support of moderates and reformists, who still see him as the best hope for change within the strict parameters of Iran’s Islamic system. Mr Jahangiri said he was standing in the election only to support Mr Rouhani during the campaign.
Judicial cleric Mr Raisi is con- sidered by many to be their frontrunner. The conservatives are more divided, but Mr Raisi has gathered considerable momentum.
The 56- year- old judge, who runs the powerful charity-cum-business-empire, Astan Qods Razavi, has emphasised his concern for the poor and is seen as a close ally of – and possible suc- cessor to – Ayatollah Khamenei. Mr Ahmadinejad registered as a candidate last week against the advice of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – a move that many described as political suicide.
Mr Ahmadinejad’s ally, Hamid Baghaie, was also barred from running. Tehran mayor Mr Ghalibaf, meanwhile, is also considered a front runner.
The 55-year-old is a war veteran, former Revolutionary Guard commander and police chief, and is considered a staunch conservative.
He pledged to create five million jobs and more than double Iran’s revenues, although such promises have been ridiculed as unrealistic by opponents.
Mr Mirsalim has been a central figure in the mainstream conservative movement for years, while Mr Hashemitaba previously served as an industry minister, vice-president and head of physical education through several administrations.
About 1,600 candidates registered to run in the May 19 election, but the Guardian Council selects about half a dozen. More than 130 women registered but none have been allowed to stand.
Disappointment over Iran’s continued economic stagnation is blamed for opening the doors for conservative opponents. Unemployment is at 12 per cent, the promised billions in foreign investment have not materialised, and Mr Rouhani has failed to release political prisoners, including reformist leaders under house arrest for their part in protests in 2009.
The aggressive stance of US resident Donald Trump, who has imposed more sanctions on Iran and threatened to tear up the nuclear deal, has bolstered conservative claims that Mr Rouhani was duped by the West.