Iran's Guardian Council Excludes Prominent Rivals of Hardliner Raisi in Presidential Elections

The Iranian Ministry of Interior announced today, Tuesday, the official list of seven candidates approved by the Guardian Council to run in the presidential elections scheduled for June. The council, which has the authority to grant candidates eligibility to participate in the elections set for the first round on June 18, excluded prominent figures such as former moderate conservative Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and reformist Es'hagh Jahangiri, the current first vice president of Hassan Rouhani. In contrast, the council approved the candidacies of five hardline conservative figures, led by the current head of the judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi.