In an interview with ISNA, Principalist candidate Ezzatollah Zarghami stated that he would not step aside for a consensus candidate. When asked specifically if he would step aside for Ebrahim Raisi, he answered by speaking in the third person: “Zarghami has come to stay [the distance], and the others must adapt to Zarghami”.
Although approved candidates will not be announced until May 27, a number have already started circulating posters and promoting slogans. Ebrahim Raisi has styled his campaign as “a people’s government for a strong Iran”, appealing to his credentials as strong conservative with popular appeal. Ali Larijani has gone on the attack with “Neither the key nor the hammer”, which refers to the legal (key) candidates like Raisi, and military (hammer) candidates like Saeed Mohammad. Eshaq Jahangiri has gone for the more description “government of the nation to open the lives of the people and the development of Iran”, while Saeed Jalili has kept it simple with “real work not rhetoric”. Among the more creative slogans are Ezzatollah Zarghami’s “I am not Rouhani”, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “either I qualify or boycott the election”.
Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of the Majles and a high-profile Principalist, said during a public meeting about Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians, that candidates in this election should be “careful in observing religious and moral standards, and refrain from destroying each other or making unfair claims against rivals”. Qalibaf added that this election was “an opportunity to build a strong Iran” which some have interpreted as being an endorsement of Ebrahim Raisi, whose campaign slogan is “a people’s government for a strong Iran”. Qalibaf was expected to nominate for the Presidency this year, but did not, as it is rumoured he told his faction he would not run if Ebrahim Raisi nominated.
Favourite candidate and former Chief Justice, Ebrahim Raisi, registered his candidacy just before noon prayers. In a statement released just before his registration, he said that he was running as an independent and his main goal will be to "transform the country's executive management, and fight poverty, corruption and discrimination”.
Former Speaker of the Majles (2008-2020), Ali Larijani, who had mostly remained distant from discussions of the election, was the surprise registration on the final day. Larijani said he was reluctant to nominate but felt compelled by the state of the candidates, saying that the Presidency required an experienced politician, as the “economy is neither a barracks nor a court room”, a clear swipe at Saeed Mohammad and Ebrahim Raisi. Saeed Mohammad hit back on Twitter saying that “the era of aristocratic families is over”, a reference to the senior roles held by Larijani and his two brothers. Larijani is a conservative but is expected to pick up votes from followers of more moderate and Reformist candidates. Almost immediately, the social media networks of Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, who was barred from nominating due to his young age, were directly their supporters to back Ali Larijani.
Former nuclear negotiator, war veteran, diplomat and current member of the Expediency Council, Saeed Jalili, registered this afternoon. In his speech, he said “This election should be such that weak and invalid rhetoric is overcome by real plans for the issues of the people. The country cannot be ruled by drama as it has in the last eight years. Performance cannot replace real work and if we do not say what we want to achieve, it is just a show”. Jalili is expected to stand aside for Raisi when the time comes.
Read about and see the footage of Jalili’s registration at Tasnim
Rumours are now circulating in the media that Chief Justice of Iran and clear favourite candidate Ebrahim Raisi will announce his candidacy on Thursday on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan) upon his return from a visit to Hamedan, and will register on Friday. It is unclear when he will resign from his current position.
Former Reformist Parliamentarian, academic and Sunni Kurdish activist Jalal Jalalizadeh criticised the use of minorities in endorsing candidates, citing the apparent petition by 500 prominent Sunni Iranians in support of Ebrahim Raisi. Jalalizadeh said that candidates seeking Sunni votes should be genuinely committed to ending discrimination against the minority sect and active in appointing minorities to senior roles. In his ten-point plan, Jalalizadeh said representation of Sunnis in key roles should be proportionate to their population (about 10%) and that Sunni governors should be appointed in Sunni majority provinces, such as Kurdistan and Baluchistan.
Senior cleric Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, a member of both the Expediency Council and Assembly of Experts, said that the delay in Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi on announcing his candidacy is due to him waiting for formal approval from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi is the clear favourite to win the election, and is rumoured to be likely to announce his candidacy on Eid al-Fitr, the official end of Ramadan, which takes place this coming Thursday, in the middle of the nominations period.
Manouchehr Mottaki, who heads the Unity Council, a powerful Principalist umbrella group, said that there was a consensus in the organisation in supporting Ebrahim Raisi. Mottaki acknowledged that Raisi has not yet nominated, and may not, in which case the Unity Council will make a decision from the other pool of candidates. However, Mottaki added that “if we apply the model of 2013, our defeat is certain”, while the model of 2017 worked better. This is most likely a reference to the large field of Principalist candidates in the 2013 election splitting the conservative vote.