DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered Sunday as a possible candidate for presidential electionsin an attempt to regain the country’s top political position after a helicopter crash killed the country’s president.
The registration of the populist former leader puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During his term in office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his bid to run for 2021 was blocked by authorities.
The return of the incendiary, Holocaust-questioning politician comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, Russia’s arming of its war against Ukraine and its sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Ahmadinejad is the most prominent candidate to sign up so far.
Associated Press journalists in Tehran watched Ahmadinejad arrive at the Interior Ministry and begin the registration process. Before his arrival, his supporters sang and waved Iranian flags. They quickly surrounded Ahmadinejad, 67, shouting: “God is greatest!”
He descended the stairs at the ministry and, as usual, showed his passport to dozens of photographers and videojournalists present at the registration process. As a woman processed his candidacy, he sat down, turned to the reporters, nodded and smiled at the cameras. He was expected to make comments after completing his registration.
Elections are scheduled for June 28 to replace Khamenei’s hardline protégé president Ebrahim Raisidied in a helicopter crash in May along with seven other people.
Former Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijania conservative with strong ties to Iran’s former, relatively moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, has already registered, as has Abdolnasser Hemmati, former head of Iran’s Central Bankwhich also ran in 2021.
The question remains who else will try to flee. The country’s acting president, Mohammad Mokhber, previously a behind-the-scenes bureaucrat, could be the frontrunner, having already seen a meeting with Khamenei. Also discussed as a possible aspirant is a former reformist President Mohammed Khatamibut as with Ahmadinejad, whether he can run for office is another question.
The five-day registration period closes on Tuesday and the Guardian Council is expected to announce its final list of candidates within 10 days. This makes a shortened campaign of two weeks before the elections at the end of June possible.
Ahmadinejad previously served two four-year terms from 2005 to 2013. Under Iranian law, he became eligible to run again after a four-year absence, but he remains a polarizing figure even among fellow hardliners. His controversial re-election in 2009 led to massive protests by the “Green Movement” and a sweeping crackdown in which thousands of people were arrested and dozens killed.
Abroad, he became a caricature of the Western perception of the Islamic Republic’s worst attribute, questioning the Holocaust, insisting that Iran had no gay or lesbian citizens and hinting that Iran could build a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so. would choose.
But Ahmadinejad remains popular among the poor for his populist efforts and home-building programs. Since leaving office, he has increased his profile through social media and written highly publicized letters to world leaders. He has also criticized government corruption, although his own government faced corruption allegations and two of his former vice presidents were jailed.
Khamenei warned Ahmadinejad in 2017 that his re-run for office would be a “polarized situation” that would be “damaging to the province.” Khamenei said nothing during Ahmadinejad’s 2021 bid, when his candidacy was rejected by the 12-member Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and lawyers ultimately overseen by Khamenei. That panel has never accepted a woman or anyone else calling for radical change in the country’s governance.
That panel could reject Ahmadinejad again. However, the race to replace Raisi has not yet produced a candidate with clear, overwhelming support from Khamenei.
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
