In Iran, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf also announced his candidacy in the presidential elections scheduled for June 28. He is a conservative former soldier with strong ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Yesterday, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced his candidacy for the presidency.

Qalibaf was Iran’s police chief, commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force, and mayor of Tehran from 2005 to 2017. He made a name for himself as a young soldier in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and was soon assigned to command a division. As a general in the powerful Revolutionary Guards, he supported government crackdowns on student protesters in 1999.

Candidates have until today to register for the presidential elections. On June 11, the Guardian Council, a group of twelve men led by Ayatollah Khamenei, will announce who can participate. Candidates who want to implement radical changes usually have no chance. Ayatollah Khamenei (85 years old) has the final say on all important state affairs in Iran.

Ultra-conservative former President Ibrahim Raisi died last month along with seven others in a helicopter accident.

Other candidates who have already registered include former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative with good relations with the relatively moderate former president Rouhani, and former central bank chief Abdel Nasser Hemmati, who was also a candidate in 2021. Current acting president Mohammad Mokhber has also been mentioned as a contender. .