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RFL/RE – Iran’s incumbent president has registered to run in next month’s national election, a vote that is shaping up to be a referendum on the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. News reports said Hassan Rohani, 68, submitted the necessary paperwork at the Interior Ministry in Tehran on April 14, the fourth day of the registration period.
President Rohani gestures to the camera after registering to run for reelection
(photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)
Rohani will face several high profile challengers in the May 19 election, including former hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his close ally Hamid Baghaei, both of whom filed to run earlier in the week.
Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also announced plans to run, on a promise to fight poverty and corruption.
(photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)
The 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by the Rohani administration lifted crippling economic sanction in return for Tehran’s curbing of its nuclear ambitions.
Since the deal went into effect, Iran has resumed selling oil and signed deals worth billions of dollars to replace its aging commercial airline inventory.
Critics have complained that economic benefits have yet to trickle down to average Iranians.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters
