Enlarge image
Iran's ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Photo: Marina Villén / imago images / Agencia EFE
Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot run for another term for the time being.
As the state news agency Isna reported, the powerful Guardian Council admitted seven mostly ultra-conservative candidates for the election - Ahmadinejad is not among them.
The incumbent President Hassan Rouhani cannot run again after two consecutive terms in the vote on June 18.
It is not the first time that Ahmadinejad has been rejected.
His candidacy had already been rejected by the committee in 2017.
Ahmadinejad is still popular with the people, but fell out of favor with Iran's religious leadership.
Ahmadinejad had challenged the power of the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the past by, among other things, calling for reforms to the post of supreme leader.
Another promising candidate did not receive admission
Likewise, the candidacy of ex-parliamentary president Ali Larijani, who is considered to be moderate-conservative, was not eligible for election.
Larijani had recently advertised to support the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran concluded by Rouhani.
Iran and the USA withdrew from the agreement during the tenure of US President Donald Trump, and since then Iran has exceeded the originally set upper limit of around 200 kilograms of low-enriched pure uranium many times over.
According to the AFP news agency, the head of justice Ebrahim Raisi is now the favorite in the election.
He is a religious hardliner who uses an anti-corruption campaign to win votes.
Raisi had already run for the presidential election in 2017 and was defeated by Rouhani at the time.
The two most important conservative and ultra-conservative groups in Iran had recently expressed their support for Raisi.
fek / AP / AFP