Is hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad planning a political comeback? Iranian media was buzzing over the weekend with reports suggesting that Ahmadinejad, who was Iran's president from 2005 to 2013, is eyeing a third term in office.
The next Iranian presidential elections are set for May 2021. Any candidate seeking the position must first gain the approval of the powerful Guardian Council of the Constitution, an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power over the Islamic republic and has the final say on the identity of the candidates.
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The council rejected Ahmadinejad's candidacy in 2017, but his supporters plan to make every effort to ensure approval this time around, Iranian media reported.
Current President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, is serving his second and final consecutive term. Under Iranian law, he cannot seek a third term at this time, nor has he publicly indicated he would want to do so.
The Islamic republic's media outlets quoted Hussein Kanani Moghaddam, secretary general of Iran's Green Party, as saying that despite past hurdles, Ahmadinejad's candidacy was possible because "everything is possible in Iran, especially in the political field of the country."
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