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Presidential elections were held in Iran on 19 May 2017, the twelfth such election in Iran. Local elections were held simultaneously.
Iran, also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. With over 81 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 18th most populous country. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), it is the second largest country in the Middle East and the 17th largest in the world. Iran is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. The country's central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, give it geostrategic importance. Tehran is the country's capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center.
Candidates' registration took place from 11 to 15 April 2017. Incumbent president Hassan Rouhani was eligible to run for re-election. His rivals were the conservatives' top candidate Ebrahim Raisi, the Islamic Coalition Party's Mostafa Mir-Salim and Mostafa Hashemitaba who ran with no partisan support. [2]
Hassan Rouhani is an Iranian politician serving as the current and seventh President of Iran since 3 August 2013. He was also a lawyer, academic, former diplomat and Islamic cleric. He has been a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts since 1999, member of the Expediency Council since 1991, and a member of the Supreme National Security Council since 1989. Rouhani was deputy speaker of the fourth and fifth terms of the Parliament of Iran (Majlis) and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. In the latter capacity, he was the country's top negotiator with the EU three, UK, France, and Germany, on nuclear technology in Iran, and has also served as a Shi'ite ijtihadi cleric, and economic trade negotiator. He has expressed official support for upholding the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. In 2013, he appointed former industries minister Eshaq Jahangiri as his first vice-president.
The Principlists also interchangeably known as the Iranian Conservatives and formerly referred to as the Right or Right-wing, are one of two main political camps inside post-revolutionary Iran, the other being Reformists. The term ‘hardliners’ that some western sources use in the Iranian political context, usually refers to the faction, despite the fact it includes also more centrist tendencies.
Sayyid Ebrahim Raisol-Sadati, commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi, is an Iranian politician, Muslim cleric and the current Chief Justice of Iran, being appointed on 7 March 2019. He served in several positions in Iran's Judicial system, such as Attorney General from 2014 to 2016, and Deputy Chief Justice from 2004 to 2014. He was also Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran in the 1980s and 1990s. He was custodian and chairman of Astan Quds Razavi, a wealthy and powerful foundation or bonyad from 2016 until 2019. He is also a member of Assembly of Experts from South Khorasan Province, being elected for the first time in 2006 election. He is the son-in-law of Mashhad Friday prayer leader and Grand Imam of Imam Reza shrine, Ahmad Alamolhoda.
Rouhani was re-elected for a second term. According to results announced by the Interior Ministry, Rouhani received 23.5 of 41 million votes counted. His closest rival, Ebrahim Raisi, received 15.7 million votes. [3] Rouhani inaugurated on 5 August 2017 with taking oath of office for the second time at the Parliament of Iran.
The Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran is in charge of performing, supervising and reporting elections, policing, and other responsibilities related to an interior ministry.
The inauguration of Hassan Rouhani as the 7th President of Iran for his second term took place in two rounds, first on Thursday 3 August 2017, when he received his presidential precept from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and second on Saturday 5 August, when he was sworn into office in the Parliament of Iran. This marked the commencement of the second four-year term of Hassan Rouhani as president and his vice president. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani.
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such oaths are often required by the laws of the state, religious body, or other organization before the person may actually exercise the powers of the office or any religious body. It may be administered at an inauguration, coronation, enthronement, or other ceremony connected with the taking up of office itself, or it may be administered privately. In some cases it may be administered privately and then repeated during a public ceremony.
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Iran |
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Government of Islamic Republic of Iran |
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Any Iranian citizen above 18 years of age was able to register as a presidential candidate. An institution called the Election Monitoring Agency (EMA) and managed by the Guardian Council vets registered candidates and approves a handful to run in the election. The Guardian Council does not publicly announce the reason a particular candidate is rejected, although those reasons are explained to each candidate. Women who register as candidates have invariably been excluded from standing for election by the Council. [4] [5]
The Guardian Council of the Constitution is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to the official dates announced on 1 April 2017 by the Ministry of Interior: [6]
During the five days period, a total of 1,636 individuals put their name to run for president, an increase over the 686 candidates in the previous election in 2013. Among the candidates was a record number of 137 women. [7] Hundreds of the applicants were ordinary people with no political background [8] and clearly lacked the criteria cited in the article 115 of the constitution, which is being considered among “religious and political rejal ("men" or "personalities", according to different interpretations)”. [9] Many criticized the law, which allows almost anyone to register to run. [7] Some intended to gain public attention, including political prisoners Mehdi Khazali and former MP Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi, [10] and some women tried to challenge the judicial interpretation of word rejal as "men", most notably Azam Taleghani. [7] [10] On 20 April 2017, the Guardian Council announced a list of 6 approved candidates. The list contains incumbent president Hassan Rouhani, incumbent vice president Eshaq Jahangiri, Astan Quds Razavi custodian Ebrahim Raisi, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Mostafa Mir-Salim and Mostafa Hashemitaba. [11]
Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his vice president Hamid Baghaei were disqualified. [12] Ahmadinejad, who was advised by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei not to run for the election, [13] wrote a letter in September 2016 to him, pledging that he would not run. [14] On 11 February 2017, he officially declared that he would not back any candidate, however, in a video released on 19 March 2017 he announced his support for Hamid Baghaei [15] and surprised observers by himself registering to run. [16]
Mohammad Gharazi was also among those disqualified, despite being approved as a candidate in 2013. [17]
In his statement, Ghalibaf accused current president Hassan Rouhani of financial mismanagement and asserted that he and his supporters were "revolutionary opportunists." [19] The statement read:
The fight against pseudo-revolutionary opportunists has become highly costly, because this current is gnawing at the roots of the Revolution like a termite...[They] are not only at odds with the intellectual fundaments of original revolutionaries, but also represent a current whose material interests are at risk. [20]
Candidate | Party affiliation | Slogan | Previous offices | Endorsed | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Executive | Lawmaking | Judicial | Military/Security | ||||
(campaign) |
| MP (1984–1992) | N/A | N/A | |||
(campaign) | Mayor of Tehran (since 2005) | N/A | N/A |
|
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) provides each candidate with 210 minutes for campaign talks on TV, [23] and there would be three debate sessions on politics, economics, and social pressing issues aired on Channel 1. [24] On 20 April 2017, Election Campaign Monitoring Commission announced that there would be no live debates and it will broadcast prerecorded, [25] however, after vast criticism from candidates and Iranian people the commission revoked its decision two days later. [26] Candidates are scheduled to air dedicated programmes on IRIB TV channels and radio stations, 555 minutes for each per candidate, and a sum of 1,470 minutes including the debates. [27]
The election was characterised for usage of populist practices [28] [29] and mudslinging. [30] The conservatives launched smear campaigns against the reformist-backed candidate Hassan Rouhani, [2] [28] while he initially maintained positive campaigning. Rouhani later changed strategy by straightly attacking his rivals [31] and the incumbent administration used fearmongering tactics to encourage people to vote. [32]
"Populist" is a new label lately associated with Rouhani's predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as with his current "hardline" conservative, religious extremist or "Principalist" (as they prefer to be called) opponents. Unlike their counterparts in the West, however, Iranian populists represent the establishment, with Rouhani, the liberal internationalist or reformist, as the opposition. They have tended to benefit from Western comparisons in terms of the appearance of legitimacy. Khameini's ideal of pursuing a "resistance economy" in response to threats of sanctions, rather than diplomacy, is seen as the counterpart to Donald Trump's withdrawal from international trade deals or Theresa May's promises of increased UK sovereignty and prosperity after leaving Europe. Rouhani resisted pressure to block social media, whereas increases in state control of the media and alternative facts have long been a feature of the political strategy of Khameini and hardliners. [29]
Social media was traditionally a tool for the reformists to campaign, but the presence of conservatives during the election was unprecedented in Iranian political history. [34]
Telegram instant messaging service, the most widely used messaging application in Iran, reportedly has more than 45 million users in a country of nearly 80 million as of April 2016. [35] It serves as a platform for Iranians to express their political opinions [36] and played an important role in the campaigns for the elections held in 2016 for Parliament and Assembly of Experts. [37] Twitter is blocked in Iran, however, Iranians use proxies to tweet and those that create a buzz, then travel to Telegram channels, where "they can potentially reach a much wider audience" according to BBC. [38]
Two months before election, Iranian Judiciary arrested some pro-Hassan Rouhani Telegram channel administrators for “crimes against public morals and publishing obscenity”. [35]
The campaigners also heavily used Instagram [38] and its feature of airing live videos to stream real-time campaign developments. [39]
“ | Rouhani and I are side-by-side. | ” |
— Eshaq Jahangiri [40] |
President Rouhani's ally and first vice president Eshaq Jahangiri is standing in the election to support him during the campaign and in TV debates, [41] being called as a ‘fender’ or ‘cover candidate’ by Iranian media, [42] and will possibly later withdraw in support of the incumbent president. [43] The idea was allegedly recommended by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, [42] who was a key backer of Rouhani before his death in January 2017. [41] Another reason for the nomination was to have an ‘alternative candidate’ in case the Guardian Council disqualified Rouhani [44] or raise his profile for a bid in 2021. [40]
Jahangiri withdrew in favor of Rouhani on 16 May 2017. [22]
Candidate Mostafa Hashemitaba released a statement on 15 May 2017 and endorsed Rouhani, but refused to quit the race. He said he “will vote for the current president to help extension of this government's constructive approach.” [45]
Among the approved candidates, Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Mostafa Mir-Salim are regarded as figures of the conservative camp, which intended to bring one single candidate for the election. [46] Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces endorsed both Raisi and Ghalibaf, [2] and it was unclear if any of them would drop out in favor of a fellow conservative. [47]
On 15 May 2017, Ghalibaf gave up his bid in favor of Raisi. [18]
Islamic Coalition Party released a statement on 18 May 2017, announcing it supports Raisi's bid for presidency following the withdrawal of Mostafa Mir-Salim, [48] despite the fact that Mir-Salim denied that he is withdrawing from the race. [49]
The election was kicked off at 8 a.m. (IRST) on Friday, 29 May 2017. It was held in domestic 63,429 polling stations, in addition to some 14,000 mobile ballot boxes. It involved around 1.5 million executive forces and monitors, 350,000 security forces, 70,000 inspectors, and around 100,000 representatives of local governors. [88]
After a “huge rush” of citizens to vote, [89] the polling time was extended for several extra hours until midnight which is the latest possible time allowed by the law. [90]
Among the citizens eligible to vote in the election, about 2.5 million lived abroad and the elections were held in 103 countries, including the United States. [91]
Canada, which hosts at least 400,000 Iranians, [91] does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, a situation which hindered participation of Iranian citizens. [92] However, some traveled to the United States in order to vote. [93]
According to final results, 41,366,085 voted from a registered electorate of 56,410,234. Turnout was 73.33%. The Ministry of Interior announced results gradually after midnight (local time), after polls closed. Final results were announced at 8 June 2017. [94]
Split percentages are from the Ministry of Interior of Iran, based on all votes cast. This is because 50%+ of all votes is needed to win the first round.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hassan Rouhani | Moderation and Development Party | 23,636,652 | 57.14 | ||
Ebrahim Raisi | Combatant Clergy Association | 15,835,794 | 38.28 | ||
Mostafa Mir-Salim | Islamic Coalition Party | 478,267 | 1.16 | ||
Mostafa Hashemitaba | Executives of Construction Party | 214,441 | 0.52 | ||
Invalid/blank registered votes | 1,200,931 | 2.90 | |||
Total registered votes | 41,366,085 | 100 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 56,410,234 | 73.33 | |||
Source: Ministry of Interior |
The table below displays the official vote tallies by province:
Provinces/districts won by Rouhani |
Provinces/districts won by Raisi |
Province | Rouhani | Raisi | Mir-Salim | Hashemitaba | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alborz | 832,050 | 390,488 | 16,553 | 5,953 | |
Ardabil | 404,196 | 256,879 | 8,388 | 3,551 | |
Azerbaijan, East | 1,284,111 | 661,627 | 27,581 | 14,227 | |
Azerbaijan, West | 1,030,101 | 473,785 | 18,384 | 13,967 | |
Bushehr | 328,806 | 223,278 | 3,806 | 1,983 | |
Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari | 270,619 | 218,607 | 5,576 | 2,115 | |
Fars | 1,511,841 | 903,027 | 19,346 | 9,071 | |
Gilan | 1,043,285 | 442,728 | 17,603 | 7,750 | |
Golestan | 610,974 | 358,108 | 8,594 | 4,560 | |
Hamedan | 418,256 | 483,285 | 14,637 | 6,008 | |
Hormozgan | 480,743 | 370,359 | 8,571 | 4,457 | |
Ilam | 188,925 | 133,023 | 2,781 | 1,143 | |
Isfahan | 1,391,233 | 1,038,635 | 37,544 | 17,897 | |
Kerman | |||||
Kermanshah | 699,654 | 313,894 | 8,787 | 4,173 | |
Khorasan, North | 231,313 | 272,697 | 6,028 | 2,116 | |
Khorasan, Razavi | 1,422,110 | 1,885,838 | 23,270 | 13,929 | |
Khorasan, South | 159,433 | 301,976 | 2,916 | 1,058 | |
Khuzestan | 1,162,954 | 896,184 | 23,626 | 14,584 | |
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad | 183,641 | 176,140 | 2,052 | 632 | |
Kurdistan | 467,700 | 155,036 | 10,241 | 8,672 | |
Lorestan | 455,277 | 363,300 | 7,661 | 3,324 | |
Markazi | 376,905 | 377,051 | 11,449 | 4,437 | |
Mazandaran | 1,256,362 | 726,478 | 25,486 | 10,811 | |
Qazvin | 395,911 | 303,469 | 11,907 | 3,958 | |
Qom | 219,443 | 350,269 | 13,327 | 5,518 | |
Semnan | 182,279 | 200,658 | 5,758 | 2,100 | |
Sistan and Baluchestan | 875,398 | 313,985 | 5,933 | 3,471 | |
Tehran | 4,388,012 | 1,918,116 | 8,970 | 3,338 | |
Yazd | 402,995 | 206,514 | 6,141 | 2,904 | |
Zanjan | 260,049 | 294,603 | 9,760 | 3,213 |
The table below displays the official vote tallies by country:
Countries won by Rouhani |
Countries won by Raisi |
Country | Rouhani | Raisi | Mir-Salim | Hashemitaba | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan | 229 | 71 | 12 | 2 | |
Algeria | 27 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
Armenia | 1,443 | 76 | 8 | 5 | |
Australia | 9,951 | 235 | 13 | 8 | |
Azerbaijan | 1,263 | 113 | 6 | 8 | |
Bangladesh | 40 | 8 | 1 | 2 | |
Brunei | 15 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
Burkina Faso | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
China | 1,633 | 177 | 9 | 6 | |
Congo | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
Croatia | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Cyprus | 1,399 | 50 | 3 | 3 | |
Czech Republic | 194 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Denmark | 953 | 73 | 2 | 4 | |
Egypt | 48 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
Ethiopia | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Finland | 419 | 17 | 5 | 1 | |
France | 3,225 | 112 | 7 | 11 | |
Georgia | 1,145 | 80 | 3 | 7 | |
Germany | 11,926 | 574 | 33 | 24 | |
Ghana | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Greece | 189 | 16 | 2 | 1 | |
Guinea-Bissau | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Hong Kong | 59 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
Hungary | 1,176 | 34 | 2 | 1 | |
India | 1,434 | 180 | 16 | 3 | |
Indonesia | 91 | 18 | 2 | 1 | |
Iraq | 10,070 | 18,608 | 345 | 187 | |
Japan | 444 | 61 | 2 | 3 | |
Jordan | 49 | 12 | 3 | 0 | |
Kazakhstan | 185 | 154 | 2 | 0 | |
Kenya | 66 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
Kuwait | 4,340 | 1,901 | 78 | 41 | |
Kyrgyzstan | 103 | 19 | 1 | 1 | |
Lebanon | 401 | 533 | 4 | 3 | |
Madagascar | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
Malaysia | 2,516 | 103 | 8 | 3 | |
Mali | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Morocco | 44 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Namibia | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Netherlands | 1,944 | 124 | 11 | 4 | |
New Zealand | 914 | 34 | 4 | 0 | |
Niger | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Nigeria | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
North Korea | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
Norway | 806 | 37 | 2 | 2 | |
Oman | 1,082 | 225 | 22 | 11 | |
Pakistan | 693 | 112 | 6 | 11 | |
Philippines | 181 | 23 | 1 | 0 | |
Poland | 155 | 11 | 4 | 0 | |
Qatar | 1,963 | 622 | 32 | 0 | |
Romania | 246 | 23 | 2 | 0 | |
Russia | 1,030 | 167 | 13 | 6 | |
Senegal | 13 | 11 | 0 | 1 | |
Serbia | 66 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
Sierra Leone | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Singapore | 287 | 10 | 2 | 0 | |
South Africa | 295 | 24 | 3 | 2 | |
South Korea | 362 | 31 | 1 | 1 | |
Sri Lanka | 285 | 17 | 2 | 3 | |
Sweden | 3,039 | 194 | 13 | 6 | |
Switzerland | 1,475 | 80 | 7 | 4 | |
Syria | 360 | 2,196 | 11 | 7 | |
Tajikistan | 407 | 51 | 3 | 3 | |
Tanzania | 83 | 30 | 1 | 1 | |
Thailand | 347 | 43 | 0 | 0 | |
Tunisia | 36 | 14 | 0 | 1 | |
Turkey | 4,723 | 188 | 24 | 8 | |
Turkmenistan | 204 | 60 | 2 | 1 | |
Uganda | 23 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
United Arab Emirates | 9,919 | 1,127 | 63 | 39 | |
United Kingdom | 9,472 | 530 | 35 | 18 | |
United States | 29,118 | 1,038 | 118 | 38 | |
Uzbekistan | 89 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
Vietnam | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Zimbabwe | 38 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
On 21 May 2017, Ebrahim Raisi wrote a letter to the Guardian Council, objecting to the results. [95]
During the elections, several Iranian analysts and officials and warned a possible foreign electoral intervention.
The head of Iran's judicial system, Sadeq Larijani, warned that enemies made a "huge investment" to undermine and exploit the elections: "The enemies may want to deal a blow to the Iranian political system during the elections". [96]
On 20 April 2017, Rustam Minnikhanov - President of Tatarstan and Vladimir Putin's envoy, met with candidate Ebrahim Raisi in Mashhad in Raisi's capacity as Head of Astan Quds Razavi. MP Alireza Rahimi questioned the meeting and asked for explanations about the reasons for it, citing alleged Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election. “The recent meeting raises the suspicion of interference in the elections, which is not appropriate”, he said. [97] [98]
According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, Minnikhanov also met vice president Eshaq Jahangiri in Tehran one day earlier, discussing bilateral relations. [99]
2017 Presidential vote by demographic subgroup [100] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Demographic subgroup | Votes: Rouhani Raisi | ||
Age | |||
18–45 years old | 70.3% | ||
45 and older | 77.6% | ||
Gender | |||
Women | 70.2% | ||
Men | 74.2% | ||
Education | |||
Higher education | 78.2% | ||
High school or less | 69.3% | ||
Community size | |||
Rural | 67.3% | ||
Urban | 73.3% | ||
Religion | |||
Shia | 74.3% | ||
Minorities | 88.9% | ||
Human Development Index | |||
High | 77.2% | ||
Middle | 70.4% | ||
Low | 78.9% | ||
Economic class | |||
High | 77.2% | ||
Middle | 73.3% | ||
Low | 70.8% |
Tens of thousands of supporters of President Hassan Rouhani poured into the streets of Tehran to celebrate the incumbent's re-election. [101] The Tehran Stock Exchange rallied after the election results came out, extending a recent winning streak to close almost 1% higher at its highest level in three months. [102]
Ali Larijani is an Iranian conservative politician, philosopher and former military officer who has been Speaker of the Parliament of Iran since 2008. Larijani was the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 15 August 2005 to 20 October 2007, appointed to the position by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, replacing Hassan Rouhani. Acceptance of Larijani's resignation from the secretary position was announced on 20 October 2007 by Gholamhossein Elham, the Iranian government's spokesman, mentioning that his previous resignations were turned down by President Ahmadinejad.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is an Iranian conservative politician and former military officer who 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 Revolutionary Guards' Air Force from 1997 to 2000.
Mohsen Rezaee Mirgha'ed 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 secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council.
Eshaq Jahangiri Kouhshahi is an Iranian politician and first vice president of Hassan Rouhani's government. Jahangiri was the minister of industries and mines from 1997 to 2005 under President Mohammad Khatami. Before that, he was governor of Isfahan Province. He was also a member of Parliament for two terms.
Seyyed Ezzatollah Zarghami is Iranian conservative Politician and former military officer. Zarghami was Deputy of Minister in Culture and Islamic Ministry as well as Defence Ministry before holding office as the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting from 2004 to 2014.
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.
Mohammad Shariatmadari is an Iranian politician and current Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare.He was in position of minister of Industry, from 2017 to 2018. He also served as minister of commerce from 1997 to 2005 in the cabinet of President Mohammad Khatami. He was campaign chairman of Hassan Rouhani for 2017 bid.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 26 February 2016 to elect members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for all seats in the 10th parliament in the Islamic Republic era and the 34th since the Persian Constitutional Revolution. A second round was held on 29 April 2016 for some constituencies where candidates failed to obtain the required minimum 25 percent of votes cast. The elected MPs will serve from May 28, 2016 to May 27, 2020.
Esmaeil Kowsari is an Iranian military officer and conservative politician who is currently the deputy chief of Sarallah Headquarters, an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps unit responsible for maintaining security in Tehran. Kowsari was a member of the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2016, representing Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr.
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.
Ebrahim Raisi, chairman of Astan Quds Razavi launched his election campaign for 2017 presidential election in April 2017.
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.
Mostafa Mir-Salim, was named as Islamic Coalition Party's nominee for Iranian presidential election, 2017 in December 2016. He launched his campaign in April 2017.
There were three live televised debates in total. First debate focused on social issues while the next two revolved around economic and political matters. The candidates had drawn lots to determine their seating arrangement for the debate. Every effort seems to have been made not to leave any room for accusations of partiality.
The 10th Islamic Consultative Assembly is the 34th and current Parliament of Iran that commenced on 28 May 2016 following the legislative elections on 26 February and 29 April 2016.
Raisi's team had reportedly told Ghalibaf's entourage that they would appoint him as first vice president if the conservative cleric is elected president. This decision was reportedly supposed to be announced on the evening of May 15, but nothing to that effect was made public. Rather, Raisi just declared that he would make use of Ghalibaf in his government.
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