Candidate registration opens for Iran’s presidential election

Potential candidates have until Saturday to formally enter the race to replace outgoing President Hassan Rouhani.

The short presidential election season in Iran has kicked off as several candidates registered to become part of what promises to be a crowded field. From early Tuesday morning, dozens of personnel at the interior ministry sat behind desktop computers, mounted two metres apart, to register candidates who were all obligated to wear masks and were only allowed a small entourage as the country continues to deal with a fourth major wave of COVID-19 infections. Candidate registration ended at 6pm local time, but potential candidates will have the same allotted time frames every day until Saturday to register and talk to reporters about their plans for the country at this vital juncture.