Iran's approved list of presidential candidates likely ensures that another regime-approved hard-liner will win the June 28 election, ushering in few changes to the country's foreign and domestic policies. On June 9, Iran's Guardian Council approved six candidates to run in the country's presidential election later this month after a helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi on May 19. The candidates include Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani, former interior minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs head Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, and reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian. With the exception of Pezeshkian and traditional conservative Pourmohammadi, the approved candidates are all hard-line conservatives to varying degrees. Notably, the Guardian Council disqualified former Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in the race. While Ahmadinejad's rejection was widely expected due to his antagonization of the...
