Two-term former hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not be allowed to pursue a comeback bid in next month’s Iranian presidential elections, the religious body that vets all candidates announced Tuesday.
The fiery Mr. Ahmadinejad, whose antisemitic rhetoric and hostility to Israel sent regional tensions soaring during his two terms that ended in 2013, was not among the seven candidates approved by Iran’s Guardian Council in the race to succeed relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who is stepping down after two terms.
The early front-runner in the race appears to be another hardliner, Chief Justice of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, who is a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s ultimate political authority.
Also making the cut in the small field are Saeed Jalili, a chief negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal; former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezaei, a frequent presidential candidate; and Abdolnaser Hemmati, considered a moderate with an international profile as head of Iran’s central bank.
Also excluded from the final candidate list were Ali Larijani, the longtime speaker of the Iranian parliament, and First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, considered Mr. Rouhani’s closest ally among the likely candidates.
In all, 33 of the final 40 candidates for president were rejected by the Guardian Council, a panel of senior clerics, a high percentage that even some conservatives said was too restrictive.
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Mr. Raisi, a Muslim cleric and longtime jurist, was defeated by Mr. Rouhani in the 2017 presidential race run-off. Regime critics had long criticized him for his role in the 1988 campaign targeting political prisoners held by the government for execution. He also has been seen as a potential successor to the aging Ayatollah Khamanei as supreme leader.
The fate of the nuclear deal and Iran’s mounting domestic economic woes are likely to be major issues in the coming campaign.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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