Nour News Expects Eight Candidates Will Be Qualified to Run in Presidential Election

Supreme National Security Council mouthpiece Nour News’ coverage of Iran’s June 28 presidential election included a list of eight candidates who, according to unknown sources, are likely to pass the needle’s eye of the candidate vetting Guardian Council and qualify to run.

• June 5: Revelations from Nour News’ coverage of the presidential election included:
  • Nour News claimed the Guardian Council is likely to approve the candidacy of the following eight out of 87 presidential hopefuls: Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani, Representative of the Supreme Leader to the SNSC Saeed Jalili, Tehran Mayor Ali Reza Zakani, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ali Nikzad, former Economy Minister Shams al-Din Hosseini, former Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, and Vice President Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi.
  • Qalibaf, in an indirect attack against Jalili, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “There is also the day after the election … Unbalanced ideas and untested executives throw back the country for years.” In the same vein, Kambiz Mehdizadeh, the son-in-law of former President Hassan Rouhani, posted a photo of Jalili on X with the short message: “Return of the diplomat from the dead-end street,” referencing Jalili’s unsuccessful track record as a nuclear negotiator.
  • Larijani’s first campaign video stressed what the government “ought not to do” rather than what it ought to do, emphasizing the need for less government intervention in the economy.
  • Former Interior Minister Abd al-Reza Rahmani Fazli dismissed rumors of being Larijani’s campaign manager but said he would welcome such a proposal.
  • According to Mohammad Qouchani, a reformist journalist, Jahangiri is the main reformist candidate.
  • Vahid Haqanian, chief of staff of the office of the supreme leader and a presidential candidate, launched his campaign by attacking Tasnim News, a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: “This media is directly financed by the military budget and public funds and fears the defeat of its favorite candidate.”
  • Abd al-Reza Davari, an advisor to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claimed the IRGC Intelligence Organization warned Ahmadinejad against running for office.

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