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| A Look at the Presidential Candidates in Iran | A Look at the Presidential Candidates in Iran |
| (5 days later) | |
| The president of Iran began his re-election campaign facing competition from a career hard-line prosecutor, his own vice president, Tehran’s mayor, a former culture minister and the one-time leader of the country’s sports organization. | |
| Two of the six candidates, all older men, dropped out a few days before the vote this Friday. The remaining contenders are divided evenly between the so-called principlists — hard-line conservatives who assert strict fealty to the principles of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution — and the so-called reformists, who are seen as more moderate and flexible. | |
| While no Iranian president has ever been defeated for re-election to a second term, politics can be unpredictable, and the country’s 55 million eligible voters do have real choices when they go to the polls on Friday compared with elections elsewhere in the Middle East. | While no Iranian president has ever been defeated for re-election to a second term, politics can be unpredictable, and the country’s 55 million eligible voters do have real choices when they go to the polls on Friday compared with elections elsewhere in the Middle East. |
| Here are summaries of each candidate: | Here are summaries of each candidate: |
| Hassan Rouhani, 68 | Hassan Rouhani, 68 |
| The incumbent, a moderate cleric with a long career in the political hierarchy, is best known for having negotiated the 2015 agreement with world powers, including the United States, that ended Iran’s global isolation by relaxing economic sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear activities. Mr. Rouhani called his 2013 election over conservative rivals a “victory of wisdom, moderation, progress, awareness, commitment and religiosity over extremism and bad behavior.” | The incumbent, a moderate cleric with a long career in the political hierarchy, is best known for having negotiated the 2015 agreement with world powers, including the United States, that ended Iran’s global isolation by relaxing economic sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear activities. Mr. Rouhani called his 2013 election over conservative rivals a “victory of wisdom, moderation, progress, awareness, commitment and religiosity over extremism and bad behavior.” |
| But conservatives have targeted Mr. Rouhani for what they regard as his softness toward the United States and tolerance of Western culture. They also have sharply criticized him for what they call his misleading prediction that the nuclear agreement would herald an economic boom in Iran, where joblessness remains pervasive and the economy is the most pressing campaign issue. Still, Mr. Rouhani is considered the front-runner. | But conservatives have targeted Mr. Rouhani for what they regard as his softness toward the United States and tolerance of Western culture. They also have sharply criticized him for what they call his misleading prediction that the nuclear agreement would herald an economic boom in Iran, where joblessness remains pervasive and the economy is the most pressing campaign issue. Still, Mr. Rouhani is considered the front-runner. |
| Ebrahim Raisi, 56 | Ebrahim Raisi, 56 |
| Widely believed to have the backing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mr. Raisi is known as a hard-line cleric who has spent most of his political career as a prosecutor and judicial official, starting at age 20, two years after the revolution. Last year he was appointed by Mr. Khamenei as the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, a well-endowed Islamic charity in charge of Imam Reza Shrine, one of the holiest sites in the Shia branch of Islam that prevails in Iran. | Widely believed to have the backing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mr. Raisi is known as a hard-line cleric who has spent most of his political career as a prosecutor and judicial official, starting at age 20, two years after the revolution. Last year he was appointed by Mr. Khamenei as the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, a well-endowed Islamic charity in charge of Imam Reza Shrine, one of the holiest sites in the Shia branch of Islam that prevails in Iran. |
| Mr. Raisi also is a member of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that supervises the work of the supreme leader, and is regarded as a possible successor to Mr. Khamenei. Mr. Raisi wears a black turban identifying him as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. | Mr. Raisi also is a member of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that supervises the work of the supreme leader, and is regarded as a possible successor to Mr. Khamenei. Mr. Raisi wears a black turban identifying him as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. |
| Critics contend that Mr. Raisi, with his strict anti-Western views, would lead Iran back into isolation like President Rouhani’s unpopular predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rights advocates say he was among the judicial authorities responsible for mass executions of leftists and dissidents during political turmoil in 1988, when roughly 4,500 people were believed to have been killed. Mr. Raisi is not known to have spoken in the campaign about that era. | Critics contend that Mr. Raisi, with his strict anti-Western views, would lead Iran back into isolation like President Rouhani’s unpopular predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rights advocates say he was among the judicial authorities responsible for mass executions of leftists and dissidents during political turmoil in 1988, when roughly 4,500 people were believed to have been killed. Mr. Raisi is not known to have spoken in the campaign about that era. |
| Eshaq Jahangiri, 60 | Eshaq Jahangiri, 60 |
| Mr. Rouhani’s vice president, Mr. Jahangiri is a reformist who joined the race in a politically strategic move to help Mr. Rouhani counter their conservative critics and defend the nuclear accord, which many Iranians regard as an exemplary achievement even if it has yet to yield major economic benefits. | |
| He dropped out on Tuesday, which had been widely expected, and endorsed Mr. Rouhani. “Our government has started along a good path — the nuclear issue was settled, we have stabilized the economy, hope has returned,” Mr. Jahangiri said in a recent interview with Agence France-Presse. “I am confident Iranians will vote for this government to continue its work.” | |
| Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, 55 | Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, 55 |
| Mr. Qalibaf, who established his hard-line political trajectory as Tehran’s mayor, long resisted calls by other conservatives to step aside to endorse Mr. Raisi. But on Monday he relented. A onetime airline pilot who still has his flying license, he had boasted of his hard-line credentials as a former Revolutionary Guard commander and police chief. | |
| . | |
| Mr. Qalibaf also assailed President Rouhani over a failure to create jobs and predicted that “an unemployment tsunami will wash away the government.” Rights advocates accused him of having bragged about crushing protests and beating demonstrators during his police career. Mr. Qalibaf also faced criticism over the collapse of a prominent high-rise building in Tehran last January that killed at least 20 firefighters. | |
| Mostafa Agha Mirsalim, 69 | Mostafa Agha Mirsalim, 69 |
| An engineer and former minister of culture and Islamic guidance, Mr. Mirsalim was an adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei when he was president in the 1980s. He is considered a pious hard-liner known for closing reformist newspapers and denouncing what he considers a Western cultural onslaught subverting Iran’s youth. | An engineer and former minister of culture and Islamic guidance, Mr. Mirsalim was an adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei when he was president in the 1980s. He is considered a pious hard-liner known for closing reformist newspapers and denouncing what he considers a Western cultural onslaught subverting Iran’s youth. |
| Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, 70 | Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, 70 |
| A former top official of Iran’s physical education organization and National Olympic Committee, Mr. Hashemi-Taba is closely associated with Mohammad Khatami, the former reformist president who preceded Mr. Ahmadinejad. He has been a strong defender of the nuclear accord and may drop out to support Mr. Rouhani. | A former top official of Iran’s physical education organization and National Olympic Committee, Mr. Hashemi-Taba is closely associated with Mohammad Khatami, the former reformist president who preceded Mr. Ahmadinejad. He has been a strong defender of the nuclear accord and may drop out to support Mr. Rouhani. |
| Mr. Hashemi-Taba has been outspoken in his ridicule of hard-line conservatives over what he calls their denial of the destructive effects of nuclear sanctions during Mr. Ahmadinejad’s tenure. | Mr. Hashemi-Taba has been outspoken in his ridicule of hard-line conservatives over what he calls their denial of the destructive effects of nuclear sanctions during Mr. Ahmadinejad’s tenure. |
| “These were the ones who buried their heads in the sand and said sanctions had no impact,” he said. “They emptied the Treasury.” | “These were the ones who buried their heads in the sand and said sanctions had no impact,” he said. “They emptied the Treasury.” |