According to official media, former speaker of the Iranian parliament Ali Larijani announced his candidacy on Friday for the presidential election that will take place in the coming month in the wake of Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash.
After Raisi passed away on May 19, the election was moved up from its intended 2025 date.
As of Thursday, the interior ministry was accepting applications for the June 28 early vote. Those wishing to run for president have until Monday to submit their applications.
Based on video aired by state media, Larijani, 66, who is regarded as quite moderate in Iran when it comes to foreign affairs, presented his application on Friday morning.
He told journalists one of his “priorities” if elected would be to “resolve the issue of (US) sanctions” and improve the country’s economy.
However, his candidacy, like all presidential hopefuls in Iran, must be approved by the Guardian Council, a 12-member body of jurists with the power to disqualify candidates.
Before the ultraconservative Raisi won the 2021 election, the council banned a number of moderate and reformist candidates, including Larijani.
At barely 48.8 percent, the presidential poll had the lowest turnout ever.
After serving in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Larijani held a number of important posts in Iran for more than thirty years.
In the early 2000s, he managed Iran’s nuclear talks with the West. However, he quit after just two years, claiming “serious differences” with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s previous populist president.
Larijani, a three-term speaker of the parliament who supported the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and international powers, is descended from a powerful family with connections to the clerical leadership of the Islamic republic. He holds a doctorate in philosophy.
The ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator well-known for his rigid positions, registered as a presidential candidate on Thursday.
