Abdolnasser Hemmati, the former governor of the Central Bank of Iran and a so-called ‘reformist’ politician, registered to run for president in Iran’s June 28 snap election in his second attempt.
After registration at the Iranian Interior Ministry headquarters in Tehran on Friday, he told reporters that despite the challenges Iran faces, “I remain optimistic about the future.” “My hope is reinforced every day when I witness the passion of our educated youth and the aspirations of Iranian women and men for a brighter future for themselves and their children.”
In 2021 elections, Hemmati finished third with less than 10 percent of the votes, after late president Ebrahim Raisi and Mohsen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guards commander who served as Raisi’s vice president for economic affairs.
Hemmati is known for his harsh criticism of the economic policies of the hardliner government of Raisi, blaming his administration for the worsening economic crisis in the country.
In March, he accused the government of creating three-digit inflation of food prices and the impoverishment of tens of millions of people “while Iran has the biggest combined oil and gas reserves in the world.” Hemmati believes that Raisi’s policies led to higher inflation and more corruption, by offering economic privileges to insiders.
Earlier on Friday, former Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani officially registered to run in the snap election. In addition to Larijani, conservative MP Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash, former governor of Khorasan Province under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also registered to run for office.
“So far, 6 people have definitively registered,” said Mohsen Eslami, spokesperson for Iran’s Election Headquarters, on Friday, confirming Larijani and Ahmadi-Bighash’s registration.
Eslami emphasized, “Three women applied for registration, but they did not meet the requirements.”
Confirmed known registrants so far also include ‘reformist’ Mostafa Kavakebian and conservative figure Saeed Jalili.
