Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has registered to run for a second four-year term in the country's election in May.
In fact, during the past Iranian year (which ended on March 20), three senior clerics who had supported President Rouhani (including Ayatollah Rafsanjani) had died, adding to the uncertainty within the overall leadership structure.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L), U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (2nd L), Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi (2nd R) and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) wait with others ahead of a meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on March 26, 2015.
He is the custodian of a powerful organisation in charge of Iran's holiest shrine.
Earlier on Friday, President Hassan Rouhani applied for presidential candidacy.
Democracy and democratic elections are attainable by reference to the people's vote and respect to the law, he told reporters. Just when it appeared Ahmadinejad would be leaving, he turned around and returned to the Interior Ministry's registration desk, pulling out his identification documents with a flourish in front of a melee of shouting journalists. Ahmadinejad flashed a V for victory sign as he registered April 12 in apparent defiance of Khamenei's advice not to run to avoid polarizing the country.
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Running on the platform "More freedom and peace" Rouhani said, "Freedom should be expanded in both scope and strength in this country".
Rouhani has vowed to remain loyal to the nuclear deal.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei appears to not have intervened so far to force them to do so.
With backing from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the conservative hardliner is now in the lead for the presidential position.
To note, the presidential elections in Iran are set to be held on 19 May. But some prominent conservatives, including parliament speaker Ali Larijani, have thrown their support behind Rouhani. While Khamenei has final say on all state matters, Ahmadinejad's relationship with him had strained by the end of his time in power. The benefits have yet to trickle down to the average Iranian, however, fueling some discontent.
Raisi, appointed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is now the custodian and chairman of the Shrine of Shiite Imam Reza in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.
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