Former Iranian nuclear chief announces 2021 run for presidency
A former director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Fereydoun Abbasi, has announced that he will run for president in the country’s upcoming election, which will be held on June 18.
Announcing his bid on Wednesday, Abbasi said his potential administration would be made up of intellectual elites, who he said would strive to resolve the country’s problems with a scientific approach.
His campaign slogan? “Administration of the elite, a return to people.”
“By returning to the people, the problems can be resolved. People have not turned away from the [Islamic] Revolution, but they are tired of political games,” he said.
Abbasi, 63, is a professor of nuclear physics at Shahid Beheshti University. He served as the head of the AEOI from 2011 to 2013, and is currently the chairman of the Parliament’s Energy Committee.
‘I have no rival’
He noted that his “elite administration” would be based on Islamic and Iranian concepts, with a spirit of seeking justice, fighting corruption, and making use of leading figures from academia to fight off the economic war imposed on the country.
“I have no rival in the election and whoever registers and gets the approval of the Constitutional Council is with me and I am with them, and I would use the opinions of all candidates to build the country,” Abbasi said when asked whether he sees anyone in particular as his rival in the election.
He also said he was not affiliated with any of the country’s political parties and groups, and that if approved by the Constitutional Council to run for president, he would not withdraw in favor of any other candidate.
Still, Abbasi is generally associated with the Principlist camp because he held posts under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The prominent nuclear physicist survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2010.
“I have been approved by the Constitutional Council for parliamentary elections (in 2020),” he said, arguing that he is qualified for the office because he has served as a presidential deputy and the head of Iran’s nuclear agency.
Iran’s Constitutional Council has to vet and approve all hopefuls before they can run.
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