The Iranian government has announced a list of six people approved to run in the June 28 presidential election, with most of the leading reformist and moderate candidates disqualified.
The interior ministry on Sunday published the list of candidates for the elections, which were held after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash last month.
Eighty people announced their candidacy, but the Guardian Council, a body of Islamic scholars, approved only six as candidates after screening them for qualifications, including loyalty to the country's Islamic system.
The six include Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and current speaker of parliament, who, like Raisi, is a hardline conservative whose government was in fierce conflict with the West.
The list also includes another hardline conservative, Said Jalili, who served as secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council, which is responsible for national defence and foreign affairs.
Also allowed to run was Masoud Pezechkian, a former deputy speaker of parliament and health minister, a reformer who calls for dialogue with the West.
However, other key reformers and moderates were disqualified for unclear reasons.
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, popular among the underprivileged, was also barred from running.
The last presidential election in 2021 saw a voter turnout of 48.8%, the lowest since the Islamic regime was established in Iran in 1979. Frustrated that key reformists and moderates were not allowed to run in the election, many did not vote.
The Ministry of Interior announced that campaigning for the next elections officially began on Sunday.
