Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others see an opportunity, but it remains unclear who is qualified to run for the Guardian Council.

Tehran, Iran – Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other polarizing figures – such as the moderate Ali Larijani and the ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili – have pledged to join forces in a coalition following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi. Helicopter crash Last month.

Ahmadinejad, who was president from 2005 to 2013, along with dozens of others registered with the Interior Ministry on Sunday, one day before the registration deadline.

The politician, who had largely faded into the background after his controversial terms in office, said he had merely answered “a call from people across the country” to run again and that he was confident he could solve Iran's domestic and international problems.

“Don't ask political questions,” he said with a grin when reporters asked him how he would react if the Guardian Council – the constitutional body that vets all candidates – were to disqualify him from running.

Despite the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei When urged to stay away in 2017, he registered, was disqualified from running, but decided not to register for the 2021 election.

Ahmadinejad's presidency was marked by an economic crisis characterized by massive inflation and currency devaluation, as well as explosive tensions over Iran's nuclear program, which led to the imposition of multilateral sanctions against the country.

His re-election in 2009 triggered the Green Movement Protests broke out across the country over allegations of election rigging. Authorities denied these allegations and launched a harsh crackdown.

Who else wants to take part in the race?

The dozens who have come forward as presidential candidates include senior security official and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, three-time former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani and former central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati.

Jalili is now the Iranian leader's representative on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and was security chief from 2007 to 2013, when tensions over the nuclear issue reached their peak. He has already run unsuccessfully for the presidency three times.

Larijani, a conservative politician from a powerful family, may be the only relatively moderate candidate with a chance of winning a significant number of votes – provided he gets the green light from the Guardian Council after being disqualified in 2021.

Despite his disqualification last time, Larijani was the first major figure to announce his candidacy. He registered in Tehran on Friday and his campaign team released a dramatic video with cinematic footage of him.

After the last presidential and parliamentary elections saw the lowest voter turnout in the nearly 45-year history of the Republic of Iran, voter turnout is expected to be a difficult issue in this vote as well.

The Iranian Parliament Research Center announced on Sunday that in a survey it conducted, 53.4 percent of respondents said they would vote in the presidential election on June 28, while 28.9 percent are still unsure.

This is just above the 48 percent that made Raisi president and well above the announced voter turnout of 42 percent. for the parliamentary election March.

The Guardian Council is scheduled to begin reviewing candidates on Tuesday and will spend six days reviewing them. The list of approved candidates is then scheduled to be announced on June 11.