TEHRAN – Analysts were both surprised and worried when the list of candidates for Iran's 2024 presidential election was released on Sunday.
The list, vetted by the country's Guardian Council and published by the Interior Ministry, includes people who have been considered as potential candidates since the death of President Ebrahim Raisi on May 19, as well as several unexpected names.
Among the disqualified candidates were former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who were also not deemed eligible by the Guardian Council to run in the 2021 presidential election.
Also disqualified were Abdonnaser Hemmati, former governor of the Central Bank of Iran, and Iran's sixth vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri.
Among those expected to fail were Mostafa Pourmohammadi and Massoud Pezeshkian, both considered to hold moderate and reformist views.
In this article, we look at the six candidates vying for the presidency on June 28th.
Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf
A dedicated official with new presidential hopes
Qalibaf is a well-known figure both in Iran and abroad. He began his career as a military officer, fighting in the Iran-Iraq War. At the age of 21, Qalibaf was promoted to commander of the 5th Nasr Division, which carried out some of Iran's most successful military operations during the conflict.
Qalibaf continued to serve as a military commander in various roles before being appointed chief of Iran's police in 1999. His foray into politics began as mayor of Tehran, a position he held from 2005 to 2017. His highest-ranking position to date is speaker of the Iranian parliament, a position he has held since 2020.
The Speaker's supporters have praised him as an effective administrator and a pragmatic politician, a point he appeared to underscore in his first words after registering as a candidate.
“In the field of national governance, the president must get the job done with skill and experience, and bring to fruition the efforts of others with responsibility and proper leadership,” he wrote on his X account, adding that “the president's decisions will change the present and the future of the country.”
Qalibaf is thought to have the largest following of the six official candidates.
Said Djalili
Outstanding Principal
Another person expected to be on the list of potential candidates is Saeed Jalili, the leadership representative in the Secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Jalili served as director of the Inspection Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in 1995. He was a lecturer at Imam Sadeq University, where he earned his doctorate before joining the Foreign Ministry. He served in the Iran-Iraq War and lost a leg before pursuing a career as an academic.
The political scientist went on to serve as a member of Iran's National Security Council, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for European and American Affairs, and Secretary of the National Security Council of Iran. Jalili rose to prominence in 2007 when he became Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator. He is currently a member of the Expediency Council.
Jalili is considered to have a strong base of loyal supporters. Despite this, he has never achieved the level of popularity necessary to assume the presidency. He came third in the 2013 presidential election but withdrew his candidacy in 2021 to face the late Raisi.
Jalili's latest social media posts, in which he speaks about the need to increase female participation in the workforce, are seen as an attempt to rectify his reputation as an ultra-conservative.
Alireza Zakhani
A well-known “revolutionary giant”
Zakani, the current mayor of Tehran since 2021, was one of the people many expected to be on the list.
Zakhani's record as a conservative politician is neither as long nor as prominent as his opponent's: He served as a member of Iran's parliament from 2004 to 2016 and again from 2020 to 2021. His tenure as mayor of Tehran was also marred by controversy from his first days in office and did not garner much attention.
He announced his candidacy for the presidential election in both 2013 and 2017, but was disqualified by the Guardian Council both times. He then became a candidate in the 2021 presidential election, but ultimately withdrew in support of the late Mr. Raisi.
After being announced as an official candidate, Zakhani declared on social media that he would not withdraw his candidacy this time. “I will stay until the end of the 2024 elections, to continue on the path of Martyr Raisi and fulfill his service,” he wrote on Twitter.
Despite his candidacy, Zakhani's chances of being elected as Iran's next president seem relatively slim: Compared to figures like Qalibaf and Jalili, Zakhani is a relative newcomer to the Iranian political scene and has so far failed to establish a reliable base of support.
Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi
A quiet politician with little fame
Another candidate on the list who many consider unlikely to become Iran's next president is Ghazizadeh Hashemi, who currently serves as president of the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation and previously represented Mashhad and Qal'at constituency in the Iranian parliament from 2008 to 2021. He is an otolaryngologist by profession.
Ghazizadeh Hashemi is a conservative. He was a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Stability Front, a well-known fundamentalist political group, and is now a member of another conservative faction, the Kanun Islamic Party.
Ghazizadeh announced that his administration will be one dedicated to families. “The country's future development depends on the all-round growth of families. I am responsible for addressing the concerns of Iranian families – mothers, fathers, daughters and sons,” he said, adding that different politicians should refrain from getting drawn into disputes and focus on putting an end to the suffering of the Iranian people.
Like Zakhani, Ghazizadeh Hashemi does not have a long and well-known political career, but unlike Zakhani, he has never been embroiled in controversy or suffered any kind of disrepute, leading analysts to consider him an unlikely candidate to become a future Iranian president.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi
Return to political life
Pourmohammadi is someone not many expected to become a serious candidate: Iranians probably hadn't thought about him for several years before his candidacy was announced.
Pourmohammadi began his career as a prosecutor in the Revolutionary Court and rose to become deputy minister of information under President Rafsanjani, and also served as acting deputy minister of information and head of the political and social affairs department in the office of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
In 2005, Pourmohammadi was appointed interior minister by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a position he held until 2008.
Pourmohammadi later became Iran's Inspector General. He ran for president in 2013 but withdrew from the election. That same year, he was appointed Minister of Justice by President Hassan Rouhani, a position he held until 2017.
In his first official statement on Sunday, Pourmohammadi quoted a poem by Persian poet Saadi Shirazi which advises hiring experienced and skilled people to accomplish important tasks, but warned that “the country's current situation leaves no room for trial and error.”
Massoud Pezechkian
A cardiologist aiming to change things
Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon by trade, stands out as the only Reformist candidate on the ballot, boasting a decades-long history of public service within the Reform party, including a stint as health minister under President Mohammed Khatami.
Pezeshkian is currently a member of parliament representing the Tabriz, Osk and Azarshahr constituencies. In addition to being a member of parliament, he served as First Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament from May 29, 2016 to May 26, 2020.
Throughout his political career, Pezeshkian has consistently called for unity among various political groups. He believes that “Iran's strength lies in its unity” and that “accepting the existence of differences of opinion and preference” is essential to achieving the goals and policies of the regime and its leaders, including leadership in science, development and regional development.
The Guardian Council's endorsement of his presidential candidacy came as a surprise, given his outspoken approach to public discontent.
Some believe Mr Pezechkian could mount a serious challenge to his five conservative rivals, and analysts see a showdown between him and Qalibaaf looming.
After announcing his candidacy, the reformist met with several prominent members of his party.
