Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 19
By Umid Niayesh – Trend:
An advisor to commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has banned the former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in the 2017 presidential election.
Mehdi Fazaeli, who previously served as managing director of the Fars news agency, in a commentary published by the agency, wrote that Khamenei had explicitly opposed Ahmadinejad’s candidacy in the upcoming presidential race.
According to Fazaeli, Iran’s supreme leader wants to prevent the repetition of the past “costly and detrimental experiences” and a rollback.
There were speculations in Iran that Ahmadinejad, who headed the country for two terms from 2005 to 2013, is eyeing to participate in the upcoming election for a third term.
The presidential election is scheduled for May 29, 2017. The incumbent President Hassan Rouhani is expected to run for his second term.
Each of Rouhani’s four predecessors has held office for two consecutive terms.