CNN —The Iranian election committee has approved a slate of mostly hardline candidates to run in the presidential election on June 28, following the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials last month.
Out of 80 initial candidates, only six individuals were approved in a vetting process by Iran’s Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member body charged with overseeing elections and legislation.
The slate includes hardline parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Saeed Jalili, ex-chief nuclear negotiator and former head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body.
Competition is expected to be fierce between Qalibaf and Jalili, both of whom backed Raisi in the 2021 presidential election.
The Guardian Council has, however, also approved Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist lawmaker who served as parliament deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020.
Persons:
Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Saeed Jalili, ”, Sina Toossi, Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Alireza Zakani, Mostafa Pour Mohammad, Masoud, Pezeshkian, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani, growingly restive
Organizations:
CNN, Iran’s Guardian Council, Revolutionary, Supreme National Security Council, Center for International, Guardian Council
Locations:
Iranian, Iran