Iran's Guardian Council announced the list of approved candidates for the June 18 presidential elections. The seven in the list, leaked earlier this week by Fars News, are almost all conservative or hardline followers.
Although the Guardian Council can disqualify any candidate, Ayatollah Khamenei can ultimately amend the list. While the list has surprised many, the exclusion of former Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who was seen as a frontrunner and main challenger to Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi, was expected.
These are the candidates:
Ebrahim Raisi
Mr Raisi is a hardline conservative and Iran's Chief justice as well as a potential successor to Ayatollah Khamenei. Mr Raisi ran against current Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2017, getting only 38 per cent of the votes.
Mr Raisi has said he will be running as an independent, focusing his campaign on fighting poverty and corruption.
Without the presence of Mr Larijani, Mr Raisi is expected to easily win the election.
Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi
Mr Hashemi is a hardline candidate and the first deputy speaker of the Iranian Parliament. He has been a vocal critic of the broader region's efforts to normalise relations with Israel, as well as diplomatic relations with the west.
Mohsen Rezaei
Mr Rezaei is a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is currently Secretary of the Expediency Council. The council is in charge of resolving disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council.
Mr Rezaei has run for president a number of times, starting in 2005, but has been unsuccessful each time.
Mohsen Mehralizadeh
Mr Mehralizadeh has also run for president in the past. In 2005, he ran as a reformist candidate. Mr Mehralizadeh was earlier the Governor of Isfahan province, a part of the Khatami government as a vice president, and also the head of the National Sports Organisation of Iran.
Saeed Jalili
Saeed Jalili, Iran's former nuclear negotiator during the presidency of Ahmadinejad is a hardliner and extremely close to Ayatollah Khamenei. He, along with Mr Raisi, is deemed a front-runner. Mr. Jalili is one of the more outspoken hardliner candidates. He is unlikely to foster diplomatic relations with the West, having promised no compromise over Iran's nuclear programme and its involvement in Syria. Mr Jalili would probably further escalate Iran's stand-off with the US.
Alireza Zakani
Mr Zakani is a senior politician from the more conservative faction of the Principlaict camp. He is also the owner of two news websites. Mr Zakani had previously registered to run for president, but had been disqualified by the Guardian Council.
Aboldnasser Hemmati
Mr Hemmati is currently part of the Rouhani administration. He is the central bank governor and considered a reform-minded technocrat. He has overseen Iran's central bank during a time when the economy has been under immense pressure from sanctions. He has been a supporter of the ongoing nuclear negotiations.
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
World Cup League Two
Results
Oman beat Nepal by 18 runs
Oman beat United States by six wickets
Nepal beat United States by 35 runs
Oman beat Nepal by eight wickets
Fixtures
Tuesday, Oman v United States
Wednesday, Nepal v United States
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Defending champions
World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
Specs
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
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Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
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