Registration for Iran's June 28 general elections opened on Thursday, May 30 and will be open for five days. As with previous elections, some candidates may wait until the last minute to officially register.
Pending approval from the Guardian Council, an unelected body made up of supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, here are some key figures who could run in the election:
Said Djalili
On Sunday, the 67-year-old hardliner's office announced his intention to run for president. The former nuclear negotiator ran (unsuccessfully) against President Hassan Rouhani in 2013 and again in 2021 before dropping out and backing Raisi, who formed a “shadow government” after his 2013 defeat. He maintained this “shadow government” under Raisi and is believed to have wielded great influence.
Jalili has served as Khamenei's deputy on the Supreme National Security Council since 2008 and served as its secretary-general under President Ahmadinejad from 2007 to 2013. Many Iranians hold Jalili responsible for the failure of the 2015 nuclear deal with Western countries and the international sanctions that followed.
Jalili is a staunch follower of the late Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, whose ultra-hardline faction wields great influence in parliament, Raisi's government and state broadcaster IRIB. He has not publicly supported any political party but is widely believed to be affiliated with the ultra-hardline Paydari (Unyielding) party.
Jalili is popular among ultra-hardline young people and has close ties to the controversial Jebhe-ye Sobh-e Iran (Jebhe-ye Sobh-e Iran) group led by Ali Akbar Raefipour. The group, which describes itself as “anti-Zionism, humanism and freemasonry”, is known for its corruption exposés against Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf and his associates.
In 2021, Jalili proposed a “One Plan” to replace the current income-based cash subsidies with equal energy subsidies for all Iranians, regardless of income. He claimed he would introduce “One” units that could be used to buy fuel and electricity, and that individuals would be able to sell the units they had saved at any price or treat them as an investment. The plan has yet to be implemented.
His supporters praise him as a “champion of transparency” and an anti-corruption politician who lives a frugal life.
Massoud Pezechkian
The “reformist” lawmaker from Tabriz, the capital of east Azerbaijan, announced his decision to run on Sunday. He had registered for the presidential election in 2013, withdrew and then re-registered in 2020 only to be disqualified by the Guardian Council.
He claims to have been told by various people that he would not have been allowed to run in the March parliamentary elections without Khamenei's endorsement, but he is not so sure about this.
Pezeshkian is one of the few accepted reformers, having served as health minister under Mohammed Khatami and as first deputy speaker of parliament from 2016 to 2020. The 70-year-old heart surgeon is popular in his constituency and has been repeatedly elected since 2008.
Pezeshkian is popular in his constituency in part because of his support for teaching Turkic, a Turkish language spoken in his province and several other provinces, in schools.
He has occasionally criticized the authorities' extreme measures against women, including regarding the hijab and protests. At the time of his registration, he said his aim in running was to “increase voter turnout.”
Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf
This week, Ghalibaf was restored to the position of parliament speaker, winning around 70% of the vote, beating Mojtaba Zolnouri of the ultra-hardline Paydari party and pragmatic conservative Manouchehr Mottaki.
Ghalibaf came in fourth in parliamentary elections in Tehran on March 1 and his support for the speaker position is 16 percentage points lower than it was four years ago. But Tuesday's victory may embolden him to run for president, which would allow him to return to parliament and keep his position as speaker even if he does not become president.
A regular candidate, Ghalibaf lost the 2005 presidential election (won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), came second to Hassan Rouhani in 2013, and lost to Ebrahim Raisi in 2017 (who won again). He was reportedly supported by slain IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
The 63-year-old politician, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), police chief and mayor of Tehran, and his family and allies have faced numerous corruption charges, particularly from ultra-hardliners.
Ali Larijani
“We'll see what happens,” Ali Larijani, 66, a former parliament speaker and moderate conservative, said Monday when asked if he would run, apparently seeking assurances from the supreme leader that he would not be disqualified again.
Larijani has long been independent of any political party and is known as the supreme leader of the Islamic right. Ayatollah Khamenei appointed him to several high-ranking positions, including head of the state broadcaster IRIB and various national councils. From 2005 to 2007, Larijani served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran's top nuclear negotiator. He is currently a member of the Expediency Council and an adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei.
Larijani was barred by the Guardian Council from running against Ebrahim Raisi in 2021, allegedly because his daughter lives in the United States. Before the election, Ayatollah Khamenei called the disqualification “unjust” without naming anyone, but did not reinstate Larijani by state decree, as many had expected.
Larijani wrote a letter to Khamenei thanking him for criticizing the disqualification and calling on the Security Council to acquit him. Larijani repeatedly called on the Security Council to reveal the true reasons for his disqualification, but they were never revealed.
Mr. Larijani has maintained a low profile since then. Before parliamentary elections in March, ultra-hardliners spread rumors that he was seeking to lead an electoral bloc. He denied this in a brief letter, saying such rumors could not create “false competition” or generate interest in the elections.
Hassan Rouhani
Former President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, “may not be so hesitant to run,” according to Heshmatullah Farahatpisheh, former chairman of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee.
President Rouhani has yet to comment on the early elections or his decision to run.
The 75-year-old, two-time president, served as secretary-general and chairman of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for 24 years. In January, the Guardian Council barred him from running for office on the Assembly of Experts, a body he has served on since 1992.
Rouhani has been closely associated with the 2015 nuclear deal, which was initially approved by Ayatollah Khamenei and sought to establish direct negotiations with the United States, but hard-line opponents have called it a “great treason.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The 63-year-old Ahmadinejad has appeared more publicly in recent days but has sounded cautious about running, saying any run for president would require “special consideration” and a “comprehensive investigation,” possibly referring to the need for assurances that he would not be disqualified as he was in 2017.
In the past few days, Ahmadinejad's social media accounts have posted two videos of him speaking to supporters outside his home in eastern Tehran who “insist” he should be re-elected as president. If his candidacy is approved, turnout could increase.
In February, former presidential adviser Abbas Amirifar said that Ahmadinejad was considering running for president in 2025 but that he would likely be disqualified by the Oversight Council if he registered.
Ahmadinejad dramatically lost support from Khamenei after he walked away from work for 11 days in protest at Khamenei's reinstatement of Interior Minister Heydar Moslehi, whom Ahmadinejad had fired in 2011. This led to Ahmadinejad and his supporters being roundly criticized by Khamenei's supporters as a “heretic current” and further accused of “turning to secularism.”
Ebrahim Raisi appointed several former allies of Ahmadinejad to his cabinet, including interior minister Ahmad Vahidi, foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, oil minister Javad Ouzi and roads and urban development minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, who is also believed to be seeking the presidency.
Ahmadinejad and his core supporters are known for their version of the apocalyptic Shiite cult of the Mahdi, the 12th Imam, who is believed to have been kept in hiding since 941 by God's will.
The controversial former president, known for his Holocaust denial and hostility towards Israel, has so far remained silent on the Gaza-Israel war and the 2022-2023 “Women, Life and Freedom” protests taking place in Iran.
Ahmadinejad and his supporters are known for their ruthless exposés of rivals, and many believe he has evidence of corruption in the regime and is using it to blackmail officials into tolerating him.
Sadegh Mashouri
The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday that Sadegh Mahoury, secretary-general of the ultra-hardline Paydari Party, has decided to run in the early elections.
Mahsouri, a former IRGC officer and businessman, served as minister of interior and welfare and social security in then-President Ahmadinejad's cabinet. Once a close aide to the former president, he distanced himself from him after the rift between Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei.
Mahsouri's party maintains a low profile but exerts influence throughout government institutions, including President Raisi's administration. Its members are a minority in parliament and often lead the way in an effort to keep the conservative and reformist parties in power apart from the majority.
Mahsouri's party suffered a major defeat in Tuesday's speaker elections, with its candidate, Mojtaba Zolnouri, winning just 20 percent of the parliamentary vote while Ghalibaf won 70 percent.
Mohammad Javad Azari Jaromi
Mohammed Javad Azari Jahromi, who served as communications minister under moderate President Hassan Rouhani, has neither denied nor confirmed his intention to run.
“If we have decent people who are capable of running the country, I don't feel an obligation to run,” the 43-year-old said Monday. [efficiently] I will be in the race,” he said, adding that people should feel “ready” to personally run.
Azari Yahromi, an electrical engineer nicknamed the “Young Minister,” has called for high-speed internet access for all Iranians, free internet for students, increased bandwidth and the lifting of bans on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Telegram and Instagram.
But many hold him responsible for the Islamic Republic's repressive internet censorship and blackouts during anti-government protests in 2019. He was nominated by the US Treasury Department in November that year.
