This week, the Guardian Council disqualified in masse candidates who registered to run for president, sparking outrage and paving the way for Ebrahim Raisi to attain the presidency without serious challengers. Meanwhile, a new round of Vienna talks has started and Iranian officials say a deal is clo
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Brief Analysis
The regime is seemingly removing any obstacle that might prevent Ebrahim Raisi from winning the presidency and, perhaps, succeeding Khamenei down the road, but the risk of further eroding its internal legitimacy is high.
Iran’s presidential campaign offered up a “May surprise” this week, with the Guardian Council announcing that several prominent candidates had been disqualified from running in the June 18 vote. Although mass disqualifications are nothing new for the regime, some of the names on this year’s chopping block were unexpected: only seven of the forty candidates who met the minimum registration criteria earlier this month were ultimately approved to run, and the finalists do not include high-profile figures such as former Majlis speaker Ali Larijani, Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, or former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ebrahim Raisi, the former head of the Astan Quds Razavi religious foundation, with Iran’s Supreme Leader (File)
UPDATE, MAY 25: Iran’s Guardian Council has approved only seven candidates for the June 18 Presidential election.
Spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said the list was sent to the Interior Ministry late Monday. He did not give the names of the approved candidates.
Rumors have circulated that the Council had again blocked some leading politicians from candidacy, including 1st Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri and former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
The claims were fed by Fars, the outlet of the Revolutionary Guards. The elite military organization is opposed to both Jahangiri, who is backed by reformist factions, and Larijani, who has criticized the hardline favorite Ebrahim Raisi.