Iran's Interior Minister: Hassan Rouhani Will Definitely Run for Presidency

Iran's Interior Minister announced that Hassan Rouhani will "definitely" be a candidate in the 2017 presidential elections and has requested the Ministry of Interior to hold a "legal and fair" election. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, in an interview with Fars News Agency published on Tuesday, August 4, also stated that Mr. Rouhani emphasized that "the neutrality of government agencies is very important to me." Some media outlets and principlist figures have claimed that Rouhani's presidency will be a one-term affair and that he will not be elected next year. Various media have mentioned Saeed Jalili, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Gholamali Haddad Adel, Ezzatollah Zarghami, and Ahmad Tavakoli as potential rivals for Rouhani in the 2017 presidential elections. Ahmad Tavakoli and Ezzatollah Zarghami have stated that they do not intend to run in the upcoming elections. However, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Gholamali Haddad Adel have not commented on this matter. Saeed Jalili has neither confirmed nor denied his candidacy, stating, "What stabilizes the continuity of the system is that the movement must always be forward." Prior to the public opposition of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's candidacy, the former president of Iran was also mentioned as a candidate for this election. Ayatollah Khamenei confirmed on Tuesday, October 5, that he advised Mr. Ahmadinejad against participating in the upcoming elections. In response to a question about the change of 250 governors, the Interior Minister stated that following the parliament's resolution prohibiting the employment of retirees in government agencies, about 60 retired governors were dismissed. Mr. Rahmani Fazli reported that the Ministry of Interior has also concluded in its "evaluations" that a number of governors should be changed, "but the number of these individuals has not reached 100, let alone 250." The Iranian parliament approved a resolution on Tuesday, May 9, prohibiting the employment of retirees in government institutions and all agencies that utilize government budgets. Following the tenth parliamentary elections, governors of Khuzestan, North Khorasan, and South Khorasan provinces have been changed. Meanwhile, Hashim Ghiyasi, the commander of the IRGC in South Khorasan province, warned the new governor on Tuesday, July 19, that if the changes to governors, district governors, and managers continue, he would take action to expose the matter. The change of governors on the eve of elections has always been a significant news topic in various administrations. In this interview, the Interior Minister also announced that the ministry is still "determined" to hold electronic elections, and if approved by the Guardian Council, the upcoming presidential elections will be held electronically. Mr. Rahmani Fazli also mentioned that due to the high costs of hardware procurement, "there is readiness to hold 20 percent of the elections electronically." He reported that three companies have been introduced by the Guardian Council for conducting electronic elections, two of which have previously confirmed this matter, and discussions with another company are ongoing. Mr. Rahmani Fazli did not mention the names of these companies. In the tenth parliamentary elections, it was announced that the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council had agreed that the Iran Electronics Industries, the Informatics Industry Research Center, and the Imam Hussein University Information Technology Research Institute would confirm the "security" of the electronic election system. While the Ministry of Interior announced that two companies had "fully approved" the equipment and software for conducting electronic elections, the Guardian Council claimed that two companies had rejected the electronic voting boxes, and one company stated that "its use is permitted only in non-sensitive cases." The Iranian government approved a plan for the electronic execution of the tenth parliamentary elections and the fifth Assembly of Experts elections in June of last year, but the Guardian Council ultimately did not approve the electronic conduct of these elections. The officials of the Guardian Council cited "the lack of necessary infrastructure" and the need for legal changes as some of the reasons for their opposition to holding elections electronically. In this context, Ali Larijani: I will not run for the 2017 presidential elections. Ahmadinejad's associates protested the news of his prohibition from candidacy. Bahonar regarding the elections: The atmosphere is currently complicated, but we will try to reach a consensus. Haddad Adel: Principlists have not yet made a decision regarding the presidential election.