Iran Elections 2017

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned of enemy plots to sabotage Iran’s upcoming elections, but at the same time noted that no superpower can do a damn thing in the face of an establishment connected to its people.

With nominations now closed for the May 19 presidential election in Iran, the likely shape of the contest is beginning to emerge.

An election official says the executive team responsible for holding Iran’s upcoming presidential election will comprise 1,000,150 members.

Saturday was the end of the five-day registration process for those seeking the post of Iran’s president, the bulk of whom were ordinary, and even weird, people without any political background.

Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri have officially declared their candidacies for the 12th presidential election in Iran as registration for the polls wraps up.

The late Iranian politician and former president Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was the main supporter of the incumbent president Hassan Rouhani, but his brother Mohammad is going to challenge Rouhani’s presidency despite the elder brother’s advice.

The incumbent president, Hassan Rouhani, and his main rival from the conservative camp Ebrahim Raisi applied for Iran’s presidency on Friday.

Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to everyone’s surprise, registered for the country’s presidency on Wednesday, along with two of his allies Hamid Baqaei and Esfandyar Rahim-Mashaei.

More than 18,000 female applicants have registered to contest in Iran’s City and Village Councils Elections due to be held on May 19, an Iranian official announced.

Dozens of applicants, the majority of whom were ordinary people without any political background, registered to contest Iran’s 12th presidential election during the first day of registration.

Described as the main rival of incumbent president Rouhani, the senior Iranian cleric Ebrahim Raeisi officially declared on Sunday that he will run for president in Iran’s May election.

A recently-formed coalition of Iranian conservatives held its first plenum on Thursday (April 6) in which the candidacy of 21 conservative applicants for Iran’s May presidential election was put to the vote and 5 final candidates were selected.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has endorsed presumptive Principlist candidate Hamid Baqaei, who served as his vice president, for the next month’s presidential election.

Iranians will go to the polls on May 19 to take part in the country’s 12th presidential election and also to elect members of local city and village councils for the fifth time.

Former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Ezzatollah Zarghami announced on Wednesday that he would seek the presidency in the May election.

Iranian reformists officially announced that Hassan Rouhani, the incumbent Iranian president, will be their candidate in the upcoming presidential election due to be held in May.

An Iranian parliamentarian says the public should be informed of candidates’ election expenditure.

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari made it clear that the IRGC personnel are not allowed to get involved in political activities for the upcoming presidential election.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed a recent US report accusing Iran of “falling short of international standards for free elections”, saying the US had better care about its own recent presidential election and the subsequent social turmoil.

Iran’s first vice-president, who is going to serve as a communication channel between reformists and Iran’s Leader, says Ayatollah Khamenei has no problem with reformists being present in the political arena.

A reformist analyst has urged Iranian reformists to refrain from adopting aggressive approaches towards the Establishment, by redefining their relationship as well as their role and position with and within it, respectively.  

A senior reformist lawmaker has cautioned against efforts aimed at charging the atmosphere of Iran’s upcoming presidential election with dispiritedness and lethargy to prevent the continuation of a trend started in the country in 2013.

A senior Iranian conservative maintains that it is highly unlikely that the right-wing party will field a female candidate for Iran’s upcoming presidential election.

Following the tragic collapse of Plasco Building, many Iranian media outlets have sharply criticized the presence of Iranian artists and athletes in Tehran’s City Council - thanks to public votes - while they do not possess sufficient expertise and efficiency for managing urban affairs.

The proposal to amend the Iranian electoral law is to be considered in an open session of Iranian Parliament. Electronic voting is one of the changes it will bring.