The mayor of Tehran withdrew his candidacy from the Iranian presidential elections

On June 28, Iran will hold snap presidential elections, announced in connection with the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash on May 19. Five candidates have made it to the finals.

However, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani withdrew his candidacy from the Iranian presidential election in favor of two other conservative candidates – Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the spiritual leader’s representative in the country’s Security Council, Saeed Jalili. Zakani called on Ghalibaf and Jalili to unite to prevent the victory of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.

Earlier, Iranian Vice President Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi also refused to participate in the presidential elections.

Thus, there will be four candidates on the ballot: 1) Speaker of the Parliament (Majlis) Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, 2) Representative of the Spiritual Leader in the Security Council of the Islamic Republic Said Jalili, 3) Member of Parliament Masoud Pezeshkian, 4) Former Prosecutor of Iran Mustafa Pourmohammadi.

According to the polls, Masoud Pezeshkian is in the lead, with conservatives Jalili and Ghalibaf close behind in second and third place, respectively.