Mayor and two-time presidential candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has announced that he does not intend to run in the presidential elections May 19. The move came amid widespread speculation that Ghalibaf would take a third shot at the presidency, having been the runner-up to Hassan Rouhani in the 2013 elections. 

Following his statement, there were reports in Iranian media indicating that Ghalibaf is upset with the conservative coalition’s decision to not back him as its consensus candidate. Some reports claim that Ghalibaf has reached an agreement with conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the holy shrine of Shiite Imam Reza in the city of Mashhad, to serve as his vice president if the latter runs and is ultimately elected.

According to the moderate Entekhab news site and the conservative Tasnim news agency, Raisi’s candidacy is certain, as he has reportedly resigned from the election monitoring committee, as required by law. However, Entekhab is quoting sources claiming that Raisi has not agreed to the conservative coalition’s demand that all conservative candidates “withdraw at the last minute in favor of the sole conservative candidate who has the greatest chance [of winning the vote].”

Of note, the conservative coalition, which is formally called the Popular Front of Revolutionary Forces and known by its Persian acronym JAMNA, will hold a summit April 6 to make a decision about how to approach the presidential elections. JAMNA aims to choose five candidates from the present 14, and in the end, the one who has the greatest chance will be chosen as the only conservative candidate. However, it still seems as if some conservative candidates, including Mostafa Mirsalim, have not agreed to potentially be excluded from the final list of five conservative candidates.