TEHRAN, Iran — A conservative candidate drops out of Iran’s presidential election on Monday to back a hardliner, state television reports, narrowing the field of those hoping to unseat moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
The report says Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the decision to boost the chances of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, believed to be close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I ask all my supporters to contribute their full capacity and support for the success of my brother, Ebrahim Raisi,” Qalibaf says in a statement announcing his withdrawal, according to the state TV.
In this May 2, 2017 file photo, Tehran’s mayor and conservative presidential candidate Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center right, listens to a cleric on his arrival to attend a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Qalibaf’s decision brings the number of candidates competing in Friday’s election to five, though more may drop out in the coming days to solidify support for other candidates.
The election is largely viewed as a referendum on the 2015 nuclear deal struck with world powers shepherded by Rouhani’s administration. That deal saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions.
Rouhani remains the favorite as every Iranian president since 1981, when Khamenei himself took the presidency, has won re-election.
— AP
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