TEHRAN – The head of the council of the Executives of Construction Party has said the political party has come up with a list of possible nominees for the 2021 presidential election.

“In the meetings of the Executives of Construction Party, it was decided that the party should get involved as one of the leading reformist parties in the presidential election and support the [reformist] camp’s candidate,” Mohsen Hashemi said on Saturday.

Hashemi, who is the chairman of the Tehran City Council, also said that some twenty nominees are in the party’s list, including Hassan Khomeini, Es’hagh Jahangiri, Mohammad-Reza Khatami, Mohammad-Reza Aref, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Ali Motahari, Reza Ardakanian, Ali Larijani, Masoud Pezeshkian, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, Sorena Sattari, Abdolnaser Hemmati, Ali Akbar Salehi, Mohammad Sadr, Majid Ansari and Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari.

He added that Masoumeh Ebtekar and Shahindokht Molaverdi, two female politicians, are also in the list.

It does not necessarily mean that the figures mentioned as potential candidates would accept to run for president, Hashemi added. 

So far, Zarif has categorically rejected presidential candidacy, saying he is not the right person for the job. Recently, it was also reported that Jahangiri, who currently serves as first vice president, has refused to accept candidacy. 

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Iran on June 18, 2021. It will be the thirteenth presidential election in Iran.

In remarks in August, Jamal Orf, the deputy interior minister in charge of election headquarters said with the Guardian Council’s approval, June 18 was set for holding presidential, council and midterm parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.

Candidates hoping to run in the next elections are to apply in early April for approval. The final list is to be announced by the Guardian Council in early June.

Under Iran’s law, an incumbent president cannot run for a third term if he has already served for two consecutive terms in office. Rouhani was first elected in 2013 and reelected four years later.

MH/PA