Iran started the official registration for presidential candidates on Thursday for an early election next month. This comes after the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. The registration began at 8 am local time at the Interior Ministry, as announced by the news agency. Candidates have five days to register.
The presidential elections, initially set for 2025, have been moved up due to Raisi’s unexpected passing on May 19. Raisi, along with seven others including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, died when their helicopter crashed on a misty mountainside in northern Iran.
Following the accident, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appointed Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, aged 68, as the caretaker president, following the constitutional rules.
On the first day of registration, state TV reported that around 30 people came forward to submit their candidacies. However, it was noted that none of them met the basic conditions for qualification. As per the Iran’s electoral law, candidates must be between 40 and 75 years old and must have at least a master’s degree.
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As in previous elections, it is expected that the main candidates from Iran’s key political factions will submit their applications closer to the end of the registration period. The Guardian Council, a 12-member panel of jurists appointed or approved by the supreme leader, will announce the final list of candidates on June 11.
In the 2021 presidential elections, this body disqualified several reformist and moderate candidates, leading to the election of the ultraconservative Raisi. That election saw a record low voter turnout, with only 48.8% of eligible voters participating.
This early election is closely watched both within Iran and internationally, as the nation navigates its political future following the sudden loss of President Raisi.
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