Is Iran heading back to former days of being West’s pariah?
Iran’s hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered on June 2nd as a possible candidate for the presidential election, seeking to regain the country’s top political position after a helicopter crash killed the nation’s president.
The populist former leader’s registration puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to AP.
In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was barred by authorities.
His presence in the political arena shows that there is a political mood in Iran for its leadership to actually become even more hardcore anti western than before, perhaps reverting back to the days of Ahmadinejad, who was previously associated with a generation of leaders from the past who openly called for Israel to be bombed.
Moreover, Ahmadinejad’s return comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, its arming of Russia in the war in Ukraine and its wide-reaching crackdowns on dissent. It is particularly poignant given that Iran’s Hezbollah is on the brink of a full out war with Israel as the Lebanese proxy has began a series of strikes on Israeli military posts in recent days, in addition to the emergence of BRICS which will create a bipolar world of commerce and geopolitics which will see Iran stronger in this eastern bloc.
READ: Israel “ready” to attack Hezbollah amidst ceasefire talks
Meanwhile, Iran’s support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Mideast have been in increased focus as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking after his registration, he vowed to seek “constructive engagement” with the world and improved economic relations with all nations.
After speaking to journalists in front of a bank of 50-odd microphones, Ahmadinejad said, his finger in the air: “Long live the spring, long live Iran!”
Before his arrival at Iran’s Interior Ministry, his supporters chanted and waved Iranian flags.
They quickly surrounded Ahmadinejad, 67, shouting: “God is the greatest!”
He descended the stairs at the ministry, showing his passport as is custom to dozens of photographers and video journalists on hand for the registration process.
An election is planned for June 28 to replace Khamenei’s hard-line protégé President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May along with seven other people.
AFP/Africa News/agencies/CNN
