Parliament speaker. The Tehran mayor. A coronary heart surgeon. The race is on for Iran’s subsequent president

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Six candidates have been accredited by Iran’s theocracy to run in Friday’s presidential election to interchange the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash with a number of different officers in Might.

Amongst them, Iran’s parliament speaker stands out as probably the most recognizable determine. Slightly-known politician and coronary heart surgeon can also be on the poll. He’s the one reformist whereas the others are extra skewed towards hard-liners who again Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with out query and problem the West.

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And if earlier elections are a information to Iranian politics, a number of candidates might drop out within the last days earlier than the vote to coalesce round a unity candidate.

In the meantime, authorities should not urging the general public to vote as vocally as they’ve prior to now, notably after a parliamentary election earlier within the 12 months that noticed the bottom turnout for the reason that nation’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Right here’s a have a look at the candidates:

Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi

Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, served as one among Raisi’s vice presidents and because the head of the Basis of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. He ran within the 2021 presidential election and obtained just below 1 million votes, coming in final place. In debates to this point, he’s urged the nation to proceed to observe the insurance policies of Raisi and insisted that Iran doesn’t want international funding to succeed, regardless of the widespread financial challenges the nation now faces.

Saeed Jalili

The 58-year-old Jaili is a hard-line politician and former senior nuclear negotiator. He ran in Iran’s 2013 presidential election and registered in 2021 earlier than withdrawing to assist Raisi. Present CIA director Invoice Burns, who handled Jalili in negotiations prior to now, has described him as “stupefyingly opaque” in talks. He bought the nickname “The Residing Martyr” after dropping a leg within the Nineteen Eighties Iran-Iraq warfare. He maintains that Iran doesn’t want to barter over its nuclear program with the West. Although he’s seen as sustaining shut ties to Khamenei, he’s not thought of to be a front-runner. His marketing campaign largely has targeted on rural voters.

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Masoud Pezeshkian

A 69-year-old coronary heart surgeon, Pezeshkian is the one reformist candidate among the many hard-line figures in search of the presidency. He’s stated he’d need to renegotiate with the West to try to restart some model of the 2015 nuclear deal. He’s put the necessity for the deal in financial phrases, saying Iran wants to speak with the world. Iran’s former Overseas Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who served underneath the relative-moderate President Hassan Rouhani and helped strike the nuclear deal, has backed him. Nevertheless, analysts consider Pezeshkian would want a heavy turnout to win — which is unlikely, given the present apathy gripping the nation. His marketing campaign has to this point targeted on the youth vote, ladies and Iran’s ethnic minorities.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi

Pourmohammadi, 64, is the one Shiite cleric operating within the election. He served as inside minister underneath hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and later as justice minister underneath Rouhani. In 2006, the US State Division referred to Pourmohammadi as a “infamous human rights violator” for a number one function within the 1988 mass execution of a number of thousand political prisoners at Tehran’s infamous Evin jail. The State Division additionally linked him to the so-called “chain murders” of activists and others within the Nineteen Nineties. He’s insisted the following president should cope with the world and criticized Iran’s arming of Russia within the warfare in Ukraine — not due to the killing of civilians, however as a result of he felt Tehran wasn’t getting sufficient again from Moscow for its assist. His marketing campaign probably is relying on the backing of clerics and traditionalists.

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Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf

The Iranian parliament speaker, Qalibaf, 62, is the highest-ranking official throughout the theocracy to be in search of the presidency. Analysts counsel he’s the front-runner within the marketing campaign, with Jalili as a second. Qalibaf is a former Tehran mayor with shut ties to the nation’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Many do not forget that Qalibaf — as a former Guard basic — was a part of a violent crackdown on Iranian college college students in 1999. He additionally reportedly ordered stay gunfire for use in opposition to college students in 2003 whereas serving because the nation’s police chief. Qalibaf maintains that he, as a powerful supervisor, can save Iran from the disaster, borrowing from current feedback made by Khamenei. Qalibaf has targeted on the center class, in addition to promising extra cash handouts for the poor.

Alireza Zakani

The present mayor of Tehran, Zakani, 58, withdrew from the 2021 presidential election to again Raisi. Zakani has stated he believes Iran can neutralize the consequences of worldwide sanctions however ought to pursue a diplomatic answer. He’s a hard-liner who has repeatedly criticized reformists and moderates inside Iran’s political system, desires to see Iran cease utilizing the greenback as a benchmark foreign money, and has referred to as for Iran to create extra value-added merchandise from its oil to spice up income. He has promised free well being care for girls and outdated folks, in addition to money funds to poor folks and reviving Iran’s foreign money, the rial. Nevertheless, he’s provided no particulars on how he plans to perform these objectives.

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