Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad officially registered Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential election, days after announcing his intent to regain the country’s top political position after a helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi, The Associated Press reported.
His registration puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was barred by authorities.
The 67-year-old Ahmadinejad, who was Iran's President from 2005 to 2013, is currently a member of an advisory board to Khamenei.
Before leaving office in 2013, Ahmadinejad said that denying the Holocaust was his “proudest moment” as President.
In 2019, the former President insisted that he is not an antisemite and is merely opposed to the “Zionist government”.
Ahmadinejad is the most prominent candidate to register so far. Speaking after his registration, he vowed to seek “constructive engagement” with the world and improved economic relations with all nations.
“The economic, political, cultural and security problems are beyond the situation in 2013,” Ahmadinejad said, according to AP.
Before his arrival at Iran’s Interior Ministry, his supporters chanted and waved Iranian flags. They quickly surrounded Ahmadinejad, 67, shouting, “God is the greatest!”
The election to replace Raisi is scheduled for June 28.
Former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative with strong ties to Iran’s former President Hassan Rouhani, has already registered, as has former Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, who also ran in 2021.