People mourn Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi at the holy shrine
of Imam Reza in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, on May 23, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
Registration for Iran's 14th presidential election concluded on Monday, with 80 candidates entering the race for the country's top executive position.
The five-day registration process kicked off on Thursday at the Interior Ministry in the Iranian capital Tehran. After the registration, the vetting of candidates will begin on Tuesday and continue until June 10, with the final nominees to be announced on June 11, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Qualified candidates will then have 15 days, from June 12 to June 26, to conduct their electoral campaigns. The election is scheduled to take place on June 28, according to the report.
Among the prominent candidates are Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, member of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council Saeed Jalili, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash, Culture Minister Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili, Labor Minister Solat Mortazavi, President of the Plan and Budget Organization Davoud Manzour, second Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, vice-president and head of the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation.
Other registered candidates include former First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri, ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, former Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, as well as a number of other high-ranking officials.
Four former female MPs, namely Zohreh Elahian, Hamideh Zarabadi, Hajar Chenarani, and Rafat Bayat, have also registered their candidacy, according to the official news agency IRNA.
Despite initial speculation, Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber did not enter the presidential race.
At a ceremony in southern Tehran on Monday commemorating the 35th anniversary of the passing of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the Iranian nation would need an "active, hardworking and cognizant president, who is committed to the basics of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution."
The 14th presidential election, originally scheduled for 2025, was brought forward due to the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19 in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.
According to Iran's Constitution, the first vice president assumes the executive duties in such circumstances, with the interim president required to organize a new presidential election within a maximum of 50 days.
