Representative image: Reuters
Iran has begun the formal registration process for presidential elections due to be held in June to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash this month.
The state-run Iranian News Agency reported that voter registration for the next presidential elections began at the Ministry of Interior on May 30.
Eight people, including Raisi and Indian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, were killed in a helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan province.
The Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Vice President Mohammed Mokbel, 68, as interim president, in accordance with the constitution.
Elections were originally scheduled for 2025 but were brought forward to this year in a surprise move by Raisi.
What does it take to become Iran's president?
Presidential candidates must be between 40 and 75 years old and, according to Iran's election law, must have at least a master's degree.
Presidential candidates have five days to register.
The final list of candidates is expected to be published on June 11 by the Guardian Council, a 12-member body of jurists appointed or approved by the supreme leader.
The body disqualified several reformists and moderates ahead of the 2021 presidential elections that brought ultra-conservative Raisi to power.
That election saw the lowest voter turnout ever for a presidential election, at just 48.8%.
The June vote comes at a turbulent time amid an escalating Gaza conflict between Iran's arch enemy Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, and ongoing diplomatic tensions over Iran's nuclear program.
Input from AFP
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