DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered as a candidate for the presidential election on Sunday, seeking to regain the country’s top political position after the country’s president was killed in a helicopter crash.
The registration of the populist former leader has piled pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During his time in office, President Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric and his attempt to run in the 2021 elections was blocked by authorities.
The return of the Holocaust questioner and firebrand comes at a time of rising tensions between Iran and the West over Iran’s burgeoning nuclear program, its support for arms sales to Russia in the Ukraine war and a widespread crackdown on dissent.
Meanwhile, Iran’s support for militia proxy forces across the Middle East has come into the spotlight as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack shipping in the Red Sea over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Ahmadinejad is the most likely candidate to have registered so far. In a speech after registering, he called for “constructive engagement” with the world and vowed to improve economic ties with all countries.
“Economic, political, cultural and security challenges exceed the situation in 2013,” Ahmadinejad said, referring to the year he left office after two terms.
Speaking to reporters in front of more than 50 microphones, Ahmadinejad raised his finger and said: “Long live spring, long live Iran!”
Supporters chanted and waved Iranian flags before the president arrived at the Iranian Interior Ministry. They quickly surrounded the 67-year-old president, chanting “God is great!”
He walked down the steps of the ministry building and, as is customary, showed his passport to the dozens of photographers and video journalists waiting to be registered.
He sat while the women processed his candidacy, then turned to face reporters, nodded and smiled for the cameras. He was scheduled to speak after completing the registration process.
Elections are scheduled for June 28 to decide the successor to President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline protege of Khamenei who died in a helicopter crash in May along with seven others.
Former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative with strong ties to Iran’s relatively moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, has already registered, as has Abdolnaser Hemmati, the former governor of the Central Bank of Iran, who is also running in 2021.
It is unclear who else might run, but the country’s acting president, Mohammed Mokbel, a former backroom bureaucrat, has already been seen meeting with Khamenei and is likely to be the front-runner.
Former reformist president Mohammed Khatami has also been mentioned as a possible candidate, but as with Ahmadinejad, whether he will be allowed to run is another matter.
The five-day registration period ends on Tuesday and the Guardian Council is expected to announce the final list of candidates within 10 days.
This will allow for a condensed two-week campaign before the vote in late June.
Ahmadinejad served two four-year terms in office from 2005 to 2013. Under Iranian law he is eligible to run again four years after leaving office, but he remains a divisive figure even among hard-line politicians.
His controversial re-election in 2009 sparked massive “Green Movement” protests and a sweeping crackdown that saw thousands detained and dozens killed.
Abroad, he has become a satirist of what the West sees as Iran’s worst traits, having questioned the Holocaust, insisted there are no gays in Iran and suggested Iran could build nuclear weapons if it wanted to.
But Ahmadinejad remains popular among the poor thanks to his populist approach and housing-building programs. Since leaving office, he has increased his profile through social media and written widely publicized letters to world leaders.
Trump has also criticized government corruption, with his administration facing corruption allegations and two former vice presidents in prison.
In 2017, Khamenei warned Ahmadinejad that if he ran for president again it would create a “polarized situation” that would be “harmful to the country”.
Khamenei said nothing when Ahmadinejad’s candidacy for president in 2021 was rejected by the 12-member Guardian Council, a committee of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei.
The commission has never accepted anyone who seeks fundamental change in the way women and the country are governed.
The committee could again reject Ahmadinejad, but the election to replace Raisi has yet to produce a candidate who has Khamenei’s clear and overwhelming backing.
