Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad convened with a crowd of his supporters on Thursday, staging a campaign-like event at Tehran’s Bazaar, a bustling hub of commercial activity.
The controversial politician, largely marginalized by the ruling establishment for almost a decade, has submitted his candidacy for the forthcoming snap presidential elections, pending approval from the Guardian Council.
Aligned with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Guardian Council prohibited Ahmadinejad from participating in both the 2017 and 2021 presidential contests. After his disqualification in 2017, the polarizing figure became a prominent detractor of the governing elite, openly criticizing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Ahmadinejad’s show of force on Thursday could be an attempt to demonstrate his popularity among ordinary Iranians to the ruling establishment that commentators say will not allow him to run for the presidency.
In an act of defiance against the Guardian Council’s previous disqualification, Ahmadinejad met his supporters as they showered him with compliments and fervently declared him their chosen president.
The Guardian Council will announce the approved candidates next week, with the election scheduled for June 28. Candidates who have been approved will have the opportunity to campaign in the two weeks prior to the election. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, a run-off election will be held on July 5.
After two years of relative silence, which some attribute to his reinstated membership in the Expediency Council by the Supreme Leader, Ahmadinejad emerged from obscurity to offer commentary on a promising future for Iranians following President Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash last month.
According to political commentator Jaber Rajabi, speaking on an Iran International panel show, the Supreme Leader’s decision to renew Ahmadinejad’s membership in the Expediency Council is perceived as an attempt to appease him to some extent, although genuine trust in him is lacking.
“When queried about his decision to retain Ahmadinejad within the council, Khamenei reportedly likened it to housing a man whose arm has been removed, within a mosque to prevent the recurring theft of footwear,” Rajabi said on Chashm Andaz panel show.
Ahmadinejad, known for his outspokenness regarding the regime’s corruption and covert activities, notably acknowledged that Israel’s Mossad stole significant documents about Iran’s nuclear endeavors from within the country.
In 2021, Ahmadinejad said the highest-ranking Iranian intelligence official in charge of countering Israeli spies in Iran was himself an agent of Israel.
