DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered on Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential electionseeking to regain the country’s most important political position after a helicopter crash killed the country’s president.
The record of the former populist leader puts pressure on the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was blocked by authorities.
The return of the firebrand and Holocaust-questioning politician comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West due to the rapid advancement of Tehran’s nuclear program, Russia’s armament in the war against Ukraine and the widespread repression of dissent. Meanwhile, Iran’s support for proxy militias across the Middle East has come into greater focus as Yemen Houthi rebels attacking ships in the Red Sea during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Ahmadinejad is the most prominent candidate registered so far. Speaking after his registration, he promised to seek “constructive engagement” with the world and improve economic relations with all nations.
“The economic, political, cultural and security problems are beyond the situation in 2013,” said Ahmadinejad, referring to the year he left the presidency after two terms.
After speaking to journalists in front of an array of around 50 microphones, Ahmadinejad said, with his finger in the air: “Long live the spring, long live Iran!”
Before his arrival at the Iranian Interior Ministry, his supporters shouted and waved Iranian flags. They quickly surrounded Ahmadinejad, 67, shouting: “God is greatest!”
He walked down the stairs of the ministry, showing his passport, as is customary to dozens of photographers and video journalists present for the registration process. As a woman processed his candidacy, he sat down and turned to journalists, nodding and smiling for the cameras. He was supposed to comment after completing his registration.
An election is planned for June 28 to replace Khamenei’s hardline protégé president Ebrahim Raisiwho died in a helicopter crash in May along with seven other people.
Former speaker of parliament Ali Larijania conservative with strong ties to Iran’s relatively moderate former president, Hassan Rouhani, has already registered, as former head of the Iranian Central Bank, Abdolnasser Hemmatiwho also ran in 2021.
Who else will try to run remains in question. The country’s interim president, Mohammad Mokhber, previously a behind-the-scenes bureaucrat, may be the favorite because he has previously been seen meeting with Khamenei. Also discussed as a possible aspirant is the former reformist President Mohammad Khatamibut, as with Ahmadinejad, whether he would be allowed to run is another question.
The five-day application period will end on Tuesday, and the Child Protective Services is expected to release its final list of candidates within 10 days. This will allow for a shortened two-week campaign before voting at the end of June.
Ahmadinejad previously served two four-year terms, from 2005 to 2013. Under Iranian law, he became eligible to run again after four years out of office, but he remains a polarizing figure even among hard-line colleagues. His contested re-election in 2009 triggered massive “Green Movement” protests and a widespread repression in which thousands of people were detained and dozens were killed.
Abroad, it became a caricature of Western perceptions of the Islamic Republic’s worst attribute, questioning the Holocaust, insisting that Iran had no gay or lesbian citizens, and insinuating that Iran could build a nuclear weapon if it so desired.
But Ahmadinejad remains popular among the poor for his populist efforts and home-building programs. Since leaving office, he has raised his social media profile and written widely publicized letters to world leaders. He has also criticized government corruption, although his own government has faced corruption allegations and two of his former vice presidents have been arrested.
Khamenei warned Ahmadinejad in 2017 that his candidacy again would be a “polarized situation” that would be “harmful to the country.” Khamenei said nothing during Ahmadinejad’s 2021 bid, when his candidacy was rejected by the 12-member Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei. This panel has never accepted a woman or anyone who called for a radical change in the country’s governance.
This panel could again reject Ahmadinejad. However, the race to replace Raisi has yet to attract a candidate with Khamenei’s clear and overwhelming support.
___
Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
