Most of the major reformist and moderate applicants were disqualified.
The Interior Ministry on Sunday announced the candidate lineup for the election, which was called after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash last month, NHK reported.
Eighty people filed for candidacy. The Guardian Council, or a panel of Islamic jurists and others, approved only six of them as candidates after examining their qualifications, such as loyalty to the country’s Islamic establishment.
The six include parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who once belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He is a hardline conservative like Raisi, whose administration was sharply at odds with Western countries.
The list also contains another hardline conservative, Saeed Jalili. He was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a body in charge of national defense and foreign affairs.
Candidacy was also granted to Masoud Pezeshkian, who was deputy parliamentary speaker and health minister. He is a reformist seeking dialogue with Western powers.
But other major reformists and moderates were disqualified for unknown reasons.
