Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered on Wednesday to run for president in Iran’s elections next month, a surprise move by the former president that could divide the hard-line challenge to the incumbent officeholder, the relative moderate Hassan Rouhani.

Mr. Ahmadinejad, who as Iran’s president between 2005 and 2013 outraged the West with his Holocaust denials and his determination to advance Iran’s nuclear program, said in September that... </s> Tehran: More than 1,600 candidates have registered to run for Iranian presidency as the registration for May 19 presidential election closed on Saturday.

Tehran's Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and first Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri also registered on Saturday for the election.

Addressing reporters after his registration, the principlist Qalibaf challenged as "unrealistic" the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani's remarks about his administration's acceptable economic performance over the past four years, Xinhua news agency cited Press TV.

Jahangiri said unity is needed to overcome challenges, citing unemployment as among the country's main problems.

The most high-profile candidates running for the top post are President Hassan Rouhani, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.

The Iranian Guardian Council of Constitution, a clerical body that oversees elections, will start to assess the qualification of the applicants from Sunday and will announce an approved list by April 27.

A candidate should basically be an Iranian national, prudent and capable of taking on leadership duties, and should a believer and committed to the Islamic Republic of Iran's fundamentals and also official religion of the country.

According to Iran's Interior Ministry, the approved candidates will launch their presidential campaign on April 28. </s> Former leader insists he will not run in the May 19 poll, saying his registration aims to support a political ally.

In a surprise move, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's former president, has registered as a candidate for next month's presidential election.

Ahmadinejad had previously said he would not stand after being advised not to by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying he would instead support his former deputy, Hamid Baghaie, who also registered on Wednesday.

He said he remained committed to his "moral promise" to Khamenei of not running for the May 19 election.

Khamenei's "advice was not a ban", he said at the interior ministry where registration was taking place.

"I repeat that I am committed to my moral promise [of not running] and my presence and registration is only to support Mr Baghaie."

Ahmadinejad left office in August 2013 after two turbulent four-year terms, leaving the country divided domestically, isolated internationally and struggling economically.

In 2009, Ahmadinejad's re-election was followed by one the largest protests to hit the country since the Islamic revolution three decades before.

Two candidates backed by reformists Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi - who have been under house arrest since February 2011 - contested the results.

Both of Ahmadinejad's terms were also marked by anti-Western and anti-Israeli rhetoric, including questioning the Holocaust.

Ahmadinejad's populist approach and humble roots mean that he remains a popular figure among poorer sections of society. </s> TEHRAN - Iran’s former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the shock move on Wednesday of registering for next month’s presidential election, going against the advice of the supreme leader.

Ahmadinejad had previously insisted he would not stand after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last year that his candidacy would have a “polarising” effect on the nation, and instead backed his ex-deputy Hamid Baghaie.

But the former president - whose tenure between 2005 and 2013 saw mass protests at home, plummeting relations with the West and a shattered economy - surprised everyone when he registered along with Baghaie on Wednesday.

He told reporters at the interior ministry, where registration was taking place, that he remained committed to his “moral promise” to Khamenei of not running for the May 19 election. But he said Khamenei’s “advice was not a ban”.

“I repeat that I am committed to my moral promise and my presence and registration is only to support Mr Baghaie,” he added without explanation.

Only last week, flanked by his former deputy at his first press conference in four years, Ahmadinejad said he had “no plans to present myself. I support Mr Baghaie as the best candidate.”

The formal registration period for presidential hopefuls began on Tuesday and will continue until Saturday evening, after which candidates are vetted by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council, with a final list to be announced on April 27.

So far, 197 people have registered to run in the May 19 vote, eight of them women. No woman has ever been allowed to stand for the presidency in the Islamic republic.

Ahmadinejad lost the support of many mainstream conservatives during his contentious presidency, and some said on Wednesday that violating the supreme leader’s advice was a final straw.

“With today’s move - registering for the presidential election, my belief in you was broken,” ex-lawmaker and Ahmadinejad loyalist Mehdi Koochakzadeh wrote on social media. “End of Ahmadinejad,” tweeted Elyas Naderan, another conservative former MP.

Analyst Farzan Sabet, a fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation in Stanford University, said his registration was indeed “shocking”.

But his motivation “may be to send an implicit threat to the Guardian Council that if they disqualify Baghaei - like they did his former chief-of-staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei in the 2013 presidential election - he will go back on his pledge and run for president,” said Sabet.

He added that the Guardian Council would find it hard to disqualify Ahmadinejad, a two-time president who previously had the firm support of conservatives and the supreme leader.

“Although it is quite possible that Ahmadinejad will be disqualified by the Guardian Council, this could turn out to be politically messy for them,” said Sabet.

The conservatives have been struggling to unite around a single candidate to challenge President Hassan Rouhani, who is expected to register in the coming days.

They held a mass meeting last week at which they shortlisted five candidates, who will be narrowed down to one before the vote, although some conservatives have already suggested they will run independently.

Ebrahim Raisi, a judge who currently heads the powerful Imam Reza charitable foundation in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Mashhad, topped the shortlist.

Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was also on the list, but it remains unclear if he will make his third bid for the presidency.

Rouhani has stabilised the economy and ended some sanctions through a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

But many Iranians are frustrated by the continued lack of investment in the economy and a jobless rate that remains at 12 percent.

Rouhani’s administration argues it inherited a devastated economic landscape - the result of Ahmadinejad’s populist policies that included monthly cash handouts and ill-fated housing projects.

But these policies have also ensured Ahmadinejad, 60, retains considerable popularity, particularly among the poor, potentially undermining attempts by conservatives to unite their base around a mainstream candidate.

If Ahmadinejad is allowed to run, “he would likely draw more votes away from conservative candidates than from Rouhani,” said Sabet. </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has opened registration for those hoping to run in the May 19 presidential race.

The official IRNA news agency said Tuesday that prospective candidates can register through the end of Saturday. They will then be vetted by the Guardian Council, a clerical body that will announce a final list of candidates by April 27.

President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, is eligible to run for another term. Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hamid Baghaei, a close ally of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have announced plans to run.

The election is expected to serve as a referendum on the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, under which Iran agreed to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. </s> IRAN'S former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the shock move on Wednesday of registering for next month's presidential election, going against the advice of the supreme leader.

Mr Ahmadinejad had previously insisted that he would not stand after Ayatollah Ali </s> Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who championed the country’s nuclear deal with world powers, registered on Friday to run for a second four-year term in the May presidential election, state TV reported.

Rouhani won election by a landslide in 2013 on a platform of ending the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic isolation and creating a freer society. </s> Registration for Iranians hoping to run in Iran’s May 19 presidential election opened in Tehran on April 11.

The registration process will remain open for five days.

Prospective candidates will be vetted by the Guardians Council, a group of powerful conservative clerics that has a record of disqualifying liberal and pro-reform candidates as well as women.

Iran’s official government news agency IRNA reports that the list of approved candidates will be issued by the Interior Ministry on April 26 and 27.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani is expected to seek a second term.

Rohani defended his policies at a Tehran press conference on April 10, a day before the registration period began.

A former culture minister and a former political prisoner were among those who registered on April 11. </s> Ex-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad submitted his name on Wednesday for registration as a candidate in Iran’s presidential election in May, state media reported.

Although the move by the former hardline president was seen as an attempt to bolster the candidacy of an ally, it was also a challenge to the authority of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had ordered him not to run.

Registration for the May 19 election started on Monday and will last five days, after which entrants will be screened for their political and Islamic qualifications by a vetting body, the Guardian Council.

President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who engineered Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that secured a removal of international financial and trade sanctions against Tehran, is expected to seek re-election but faces a stiff challenge from conservatives who oppose the deal.

Ahmadinejad, who frequently enraged the West with his rhetoric during his eight years in office, wanted to challenge Rouhani’s bid for a second term, but Khamenei ordered him last year not to nominate himself.

Khamenei, who has the final say in Iran’s clerical establishment, warned in September that Ahmadinejad’s candidacy could create division in the country and harm the nation.

Ahmadinejad, who had a rift with Khamenei in his final years of office, announced in a public statement in October that he would abide by the order and would not run.

However, he named one of his main allies and former deputy Hamid Baghaei as a candidate.

Ahmadinejad accompanied Baghaei to the interior ministry on Wednesday for registration.

By putting his name forward, analysts say Ahmadinejad is trying to make any disqualification of Baghaei costly for the Guardian Council. The powerful election vetting body is close to Khamenei as he appoints half of its members.

Mehr news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that he registered as a candidate “only to support Baghaei.”

While conservatives are worried that Ahmadinejad or Baghaei’s presence might split their votes, allies of Rouhani are also concerned about the attractiveness of populist candidates with nationalist anti-establishment slogans.

Baghaei, 48, was held under arrest in 2015 for almost seven months on charges that were not made public but many suspected were related to corruption. Iran’s judiciary spokesman said in March that his case was still open.
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registers to run in next month's election for a non-consecutive third term, according to state media.