Despite the disqualification last time, Larijani was the first major figure to announce his candidacy, signing up in Tehran on Friday with his campaign releasing a dramatic video containing cinematic shots of him in the process. After the latest presidential and parliamentary elections produced the lowest turnouts in the near 45-year history of the Republic of Iran, turnout is expected to prove a challenging issue during this vote as well. The research centre of the Iranian parliament announced on Sunday that 53.4 percent of people – responding to a survey it conducted – said they would vote in the June 28 presidential election, with 28.9 percent still on the fence. This is just above the 48 percent that saw Raisi become president, and much higher than the 42 percent turnout announced for the parliamentary election in March. The Guardian Council is scheduled to begin vetting the candidates from Tuesday for six days, after which the list of approved candidates will be announced on June 11.
