Most prominent among those disqualified are Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the populist ex-president, as well as moderate candidate and former three-time parliament speaker Ali Larijani – both of whom did not qualify to run in 2021 as well.Iran was slated to have its presidential election in 2025, but the vote was brought forward after Raisi died on May 19 in a helicopter crash in northern Iran. The 63-year-old Raisi was expected to secure another term in office and was a top name associated with the succession of Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader. Seven others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, were also killed in the crash, which the army said in a preliminary report last month did not occur as a result of criminal activity.
