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AFTER THREE years of ruthless hardline government under Ebrahim Raisi, Irans 61m voters once again have a choice for president. On June 9th, ahead of Irans snap presidential election scheduled for June 28th, the Guardian Council, the Islamic Republics electoral-vetting body, approved six candidates: three hardliners, two pragmatic conservatives and a reformer. Given that the first five are likely to split the traditionalist vote, a good turnout might even propel a reformist back into the presidency. The helicopter crash that killed Raisi on May 19th may also have ended his puritanical purge of the administration. It could re-energise Iranian politics, says a political observer in the capital, Tehran.

The front-runner remains Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. As a former military commander and police chief, as well as the pragmatic conservative speaker of parliament and a relative of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he has the credentials of a regime stalwart. If the other four conservatives drop out of the race and lend him their backing (as often happens in Iranian elections), he should be a shoo-in. That said, as a previous three-time presidential contender, he also has a record as a loser. Critics on the right as well as the left berate him for corruption and hypocrisy, though he denies their accusations. Although Mr Qaliba condemns the West, his son declared he had $150,000 available to fast-track his application for Canadian citizenship.

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Who are the main contenders to be Iran's next president? - The Economist