New Delhi

Iran is set to elect a new president on Friday (June 28) as the country's constitution requires fresh elections in case the serving president is incapacitated. But hours ahead of the voting, two candidates, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, one of the vice presidents of deceased former President Raisi, and Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani dropped their candidacy.

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Ghazizadeh Hashemi is the ultraconservative head of the Martyrs' Foundation. Iran now has four presidential candidates.

After President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash last month, Mohammed Mokhber — the vice president in Raisi's tenure — assumed presidency. 

Mokhber, himself, however does not feature in the list of six presidential candidates announced by Tehran for June 28 election, meaning that the country's all-powerful Guardian Council  — composed of 12 clerics, six of whom are directly elected (and can be summarily dismissed) by the Supreme Leader Khamenei— wants somebody else at the helm. 

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Of the four candidates, three are deemed Khamenei loyalists. 

Also watch | Iran election: Who is running to be Iran's next President?

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The candidates include conservative speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Just one reformist candidate, Massoud Pezeshkian, who is a lawmaker representing Tabriz in Iran's parliament, is running in the elections. 

The conservative former interior minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi has also been authorised to run. 

Former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was previously disqualified from entering the presidential races in 2017 and 2021, has not been allowed to run for president once again.

What is happening in Iran right now? Why do these elections matter?

On economic front, Iran continues to face the burden of choking US sanctions amid Tehran's tacit insistence on becoming a nuclear power. But it still has friends in Russia and Central Asia. In recent years, Tehran has found New Delhi as a credible economic partner. The two countries recently formalised a crucial Chabahar port deal. 

Also read | The Capitals: New Delhi achieves crucial strategic breakthrough with Tehran outreach

Also read | The Capitals: New Delhi seals deal to operate Chabahar port for a decade; and more

For overall stability in West Asia, the country, with Beijing's mediation, restored its ties with Saudi Arabia in March 2023. But after its embassy in Syria was attacked in an alleged Israeli attack, Tehran launched missiles inside Israel earlier this year in a major escalation of a larger conflict in the region amid Israeli bombardments in Gaza. 

Iran also now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and has enough of it to produce several nuclear weapons if it chooses.

But the hardline options in the Iran elections, alongside restrictions on women's headscarves have many in the country reportedly expressing their discontent saying they won't vote in Friday's elections. 

(With inputs from agencies)