3 months ago
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Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is en route to the Interior Ministry to register for the snap presidential election slated for June 28.
Ahmadinejad earlier in the day told a group of his supporters that he will run for the office, a video published by his Telegram channel shows.
His supporters in the parliament had earlier welcomed his possible candidacy, claiming he’s “one of the most popular political figures in the country.”
Speaking to ILNA, Ahmad Alireza Beigi, a representative of Tabriz in the parliament, said, "If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad runs for president, he will win."
He also warned about the consequences of Ahmadinejad's disqualification without going into further detail.
He was barred from running in the 2017 and 2021 presidential elections by the Guardian Council largely controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
"Ahmadinejad must be assured that the Guardian Council will approve him for candidacy because if he signs up and is disqualified, it will have dire consequences," Alireza Beigi added.
After the former president was denied the chance to run in the 2017 elections, he became an outspoken critic of the system, even openly criticizing Khamenei.
He has been walking a tightrope in the past two years and remaining mostly silent to avoid a backlash by loyalists close to the Supreme Leader.
Candidates seeking to run for the presidency, parliament, and the Assembly of Experts, which appoints Ali Khamenei's successor, must be approved by the Guardian Council, the constitutional election watchdog.
