Presidential election in Iran: Women and generals await Supreme Leader’s decision

Eslam Mohamed

Eyes are awaiting the results of the presidential nominations that will emerge from the decision of Iran’s Guardian Council, after the election commission announced that 592 citizens’ applications had been registered for the presidential elections.

The Guardian Council sorts the applications for candidacy for the elections and selects a limited number to run in the presidential race scheduled for June 18. The council consists of 12 members, half of whom are chosen by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the other half are chosen by the head of the judiciary, who is also appointed by Khamenei.

The list of nominated candidates for the elections includes 40 women, but they have almost no chance of running despite the absence of any clear legal basis preventing them, according to Guardian Council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, as the council has not previously approved any woman’s candidacy.

Among the most prominent applicants are Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Expediency Discernment Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, former Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, current Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Tehran City Council Chairman Mayor Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Registration for the elections opened on Tuesday, May 11, and ended on Saturday, May 15. According to the election schedule announced by the Iranian Ministry of Interior, the names of the candidates for the elections will be announced on May 26 and 27, after their eligibility is confirmed by the Guardian Council.

The campaigns will run for a period of 20 days from May 28 to June 16, and then the country will enter a period of electoral silence on June 17.

These elections are witnessing a remarkable phenomenon of Revolutionary Guard commanders’ candidacies following explicit recommendations from Khamenei to elect a “young revolutionary government.”

The conditions for running for the presidency in Iran include belief in the theory of Velayat-e Faqih (guardianship of the jurist), which was invented by Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamist republic. A candidate must also be of Iranian origin and nationality, have experience in boards of directors and management, and have a good past.

However, the Guardian Council has imposed new conditions, including the absence of a criminal record for the candidate, for him to have spent at least four years in administrative positions, to be between 40 and 75 years old, and to have a master’s degree or equivalent. It is also now allowed for the first time to nominate military leaders with the rank of at least major general, as well as mayors in cities with more than two million inhabitants.