The Expediency Discernment Council of the System is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 6 February 1988. It was originally set up to resolve differences or conflicts between the Majlis and the Guardian Council, but "its true power lies more in its advisory role to the Supreme Leader." According to Hooman Majd, the Leader "delegated some of his own authority to the council—granting it supervisory powers over all branches of the government" following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election in 2005.
Mohammad-Reza Bahonar is an Iranian principlist politician who was member of the Parliament of Iran for 28 years. He is also secretary general of Islamic Society of Engineers and the Front of Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
Presidential elections were held in Iran 17 June 2005, with a second round run-off on 24 June. Mohammad Khatami, the previous President of Iran, stepped down on 2 August 2005, after serving his maximum two consecutive four-year terms according to the Islamic Republic's constitution. The election led to the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline mayor of Tehran, with 19.48% of the votes in the first round and 61.69% in the second. Factors thought to have contributed to Ahmadinejad's victory include mobilization of mosque networks and conservative/hardline voters, and a protest vote against corrupt elite insiders and for "new political blood". A loyal supporter of conservative Supreme Leader Khamenei, Ahmadinejad kissed the leader's hand during his authorization ceremony. Officials reported a turnout of about 59% of Iran's 47 million eligible voters, a decline from the 63% turnout reported in the first round of balloting a week before.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf or Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is an Iranian conservative politician and former military officer and current Speaker of the Parliament of Iran since 2020. He held office as the Mayor of Tehran from 2005 to 2017. Ghalibaf was formerly Iran's Chief of police from 2000 to 2005 and commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Air Force from 1997 to 2000.
Mohsen Rezaee is an Iranian conservative politician affiliated with the Resistance Front of Islamic Iran and senior military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who currently holds office as the Vice President of Iran for Economic Affairs, member of the Expediency Discernment Council, secretary of the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination, as well as the secretary of the Iranian government's Economic Committee.He was secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council from 1997 to 2021.
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari is a former commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps from 2007 to 2019. He was appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 1 September 2007, succeeding Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi.
Saeed Jalili is an Iranian conservative politician and diplomat who was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2007 to 2013. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
Principlists Pervasive Coalition was one of two main principlist coalitions for the 2008 Iranian legislative election, alongside the United Front of Principlists. Candidates endorsed by the coalition were close to Ali Larijani, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Mohsen Rezaee.
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh served as the last Prime Minister of Iran, from 1981 to 1989, before the position of Prime Minister was abolished in the 1989's review of the Iranian constitution. Just before the Islamic Revolution, he and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard moved to the United States of America and came back to Iran right after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. After they had been admitted to the structure of the government, two of the proponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely, Hassan Ayat [Ph.D. holder] and Abdolhamid Diyalameh [Ph.D. holder and an MP] went to their lengths to remove Mousavi and Rahnavard from the political structure of the government but both were suspiciously martyred. After 20 years of absence from the political scene of Iran, on March 9, 2009 he announced his candidacy in the 2009 Iranian Presidential election.
Presidential elections were held in Iran on 14 June 2013. Hassan Rouhani won with a landslide victory, elected in the first round of voting with 50.71% of the vote. Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf finished second with 16.56% of the vote. Over 36.7 million Iranians voted, 72.71% of eligible voters.
Hassan Rouhani, a moderate Iranian politician and former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, also known as the Diplomat Sheikh, launched his presidential campaign in March 2013. He was earlier expected to withdraw and endorse Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani after he registered, but he returned to the race after Hashemi's disqualification. The symbol of Rouhani's campaign was a key and his slogan was "Government of Prudence and Hope." On 15 June, he was elected as the president with 18,613,329 votes.
The Iranian presidential election debates of 2013 was held from 31 May to 7 June. For the 2013 election, the IRIB has approved three televised debates with all candidates, different from last election's format which was person-by-person. For each question, one candidate was chosen randomly to give his response. Then, other candidates shared their ideas. The eight candidates have explained their cultural and political plans during debates. The debates were focused on such issues as the economy, foreign policy, and Iran’s comprehensive talks with the P5+1 group over the country’s nuclear energy program. More than 45,000,000 people world-wide watched the debates according to IRIB.
Hossein Mozaffar is an Iranian conservative politician who was Minister of Education under President Mohammad Khatami and represented Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr in the Parliament of Iran twice. He is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
The Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces is a political organization in Iran, founded in late 2016 by ten figures from different spectrum of conservative factions.
Hassan Rouhani, the incumbent President of Iran, launched his reelection campaign for the Presidential office in February 2017. The election itself and related events received international media attention with many issues being raised. Rouhani achieved a decisive victory after the May 2017 vote, with Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli announcing that out of 41.3 million total votes cast Rouhani got 23.6 million. Ebrahim Raisi, Rouhani's closest rival, had picked up 15.8 million votes in contrast.
The 2017 Ebrahim Raisi presidential campaign began when Ebrahim Raisi, chairman of the Astan Quds Razavi, launched his campaign for the 2017 presidential election. Raisi's campaign pursued a populist agenda.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Mayor of Tehran launched his third presidential campaign for the Iranian presidency on April 15, 2017. On 15 May 2017, Ghalibaf withdrew and endorsed Ebrahim Raisi.
Presidential elections were held in Iran on 18 June 2021, the thirteenth since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Ebrahim Raisi, the then Chief Justice of Iran, was declared the winner in a highly controversial election. The election began with the mass disqualification of popular candidates by the Guardian Council, and broke records of the lowest turnout in Iranian electoral history, as well as had the highest share of protest blank, invalid and lost votes despite a declaration by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, considering protest voting religiously forbidden (haraam) as it would "weaken the regime." Reporters Without Borders reported 42 cases of journalists being summoned or threatened for writing about candidates, and the chief of the police threatened people who discouraged others to vote.
