Iran's Former Hardline President Ahmadinejad to Run Again

Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP)
Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP)
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Iran's Former Hardline President Ahmadinejad to Run Again

Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP)
Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP)

Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday registered to run again in an election in June which is being seen as a test of the legitimacy of the country’s clerical rulers.

Vilified in the West for his questioning of the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad had to step down in 2013 because of term limit rules, when incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, who negotiated Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, won in a landslide.

“People should be involved in Iran’s decision-making process... We must all prepare ourselves for fundamental reform,” state TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying after submitting his registration.

Candidates began signing up for the polls on Tuesday with the clerical rulers hoping for a high turnout which may be hit by rising discontent over an economy crippled by US sanctions reimposed after Washington exited the nuclear deal three years ago.

Registration will end on Saturday, after which entrants will be screened for their qualifications by a 12-member vetting body, the Guardian Council. Six members of the hardline body are appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei backed Ahmadinejad after his 2009 re-election triggered protests in which dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested, rattling the ruling theocracy, before security forces led by the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) stamped out the unrest.

But a rift developed between the two after then-president Ahmadinejad explicitly advocated checks on Khamenei’s ultimate authority. Ahmadinejad was disqualified by the Guardian Council in the 2017 presidential election.

In an open letter to Khamenei in 2018, Ahmadinejad called for “fundamental reforms” in the three branches of government - executive, parliament and judiciary - as well as the office of the Supreme Leader.

A former officer of the Guards, who has tried to re-brand himself as a moderate politician by criticizing the clerical establishment, Ahmadinejad relies on Iran’s devout poor and working class who have grown impatient with the mounting economic pressure.

However, his popularity remains in question and hardline political groups are expected to back prominent cleric and judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi if he decides to run.

Rouhani cannot seek re-election under Iran’s constitution.

Several hardline candidates, including some IRGC commanders, have said they would withdraw if Raisi enters the race to avoid splitting the vote.

Appointed by the supreme leader as head of the judiciary, Raisi has emerged as one of Iran’s most powerful figures and a contender to succeed Khamenei.



Trump Downplays Possibility of Sending Ukraine Long-Range Weapons as It Struggles to Repel Russia

 In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a local resident walks along the street under an anti-drone net in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a local resident walks along the street under an anti-drone net in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
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Trump Downplays Possibility of Sending Ukraine Long-Range Weapons as It Struggles to Repel Russia

 In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a local resident walks along the street under an anti-drone net in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a local resident walks along the street under an anti-drone net in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed the possibility of sending Ukraine long-range weapons as Kyiv awaits an injection of US weaponry that it hopes will help it beat back an intensifying Russian air offensive.

Trump offered a more cautious tone on what to expect after he threatened Russia a day earlier with steep tariffs if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t act within 50 days to end the three-year conflict. He also on Monday announced plans to bolster Kyiv's stockpile by selling American weapons to NATO allies who would in turn send arms to Ukraine.

Providing Ukraine with more long-range weaponry would give Kyiv the chance to strike further into Russian territory, a move that some in Ukraine and the US have said could help push Putin toward negotiations to end the fighting.

Asked if he intended to supply Ukraine with weapons that could reach deeper into Russian territory, Trump replied, "We're not looking to do that." He made the remarks to reporters before departing the White House for an energy investment event in Pittsburgh.

While Trump's threats of weapons, sanctions and tariffs mark the most substantive pressure he’s placed on Putin since returning to office nearly six months ago, some lawmakers said they remain concerned that the administration, with the 50-day deadline, is giving Putin time to grab even more Ukrainian territory.

Sens. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said waiting 50 days before imposing sanctions on Russia would give Putin more time to gain an advantage in the war.

"The 50-day delay worries me that Putin would try to use the 50 days to win the war, or to be better positioned to negotiate a peace agreement after having murdered and potentially collected more ground," said Tillis, who recently announced he won’t run for reelection.

Tillis and Shaheen lead the Senate NATO Observer Group, which facilitates work between Congress and NATO, and met Tuesday with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Capitol Hill.

Trump himself scoffed at the idea that 50 days is giving Putin too much time. The president suggested he may act more quickly if he does not see signs that Putin is taking steps toward ending the conflict.

"I don’t think 50 days is very long and it could be shorter than that," he said.

Ahead of Trump's announcement that he would impose a 100% tariff on Russia’s trading partners if Putin doesn't negotiate an end to the war, bipartisan legislation proscribing even tougher sanctions on Moscow was gaining steam in the Senate.

The legislation, in part, calls for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It would have an enormous impact on the economies of Brazil, China and India, which account for the vast majority of Russia’s energy trade.

But Trump on Monday said "at a certain point it doesn’t matter" how high the tariff is set and that "100% is going to serve the same function." Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he was putting the legislation on hold following Trump's announcement.

Trump during his campaign described the conflict as a waste of US taxpayer money and vowed to quickly end it on his first day back in office. He deflected when asked by a reporter on Tuesday if his tougher tone on Putin suggests he's now on Ukraine’s side in the bloody conflict.

"I’m on nobody’s side," Trump said, adding this concern was for "humanity."

US officials say they are still sorting through Ukraine’s wish list of weaponry to determine what can be most quickly replaced after Trump announced an agreement for Europe to supply Ukraine with defensive munitions from existing stocks.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss arms transfers that have not yet been approved or completed, said Ukraine’s requests for military equipment are roughly the same as they have been since the start of Russia’s invasion. Those include air defenses like Patriot missiles and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems, long-range missiles known as ATACMS and short- to medium-range ground-to-air missiles known as NASAMs, and assorted artillery, according to the officials.

Under the terms of the very rough agreement sketched out by Trump and Rutte on Monday, NATO members would ship billions of dollars of these weapons to Ukraine and then purchase replacements for them from the United States.

One official said some of the larger items, such as Patriots, could take up to five years to produce to deliver to the European donors, while smaller munitions like 155mm artillery shells can be produced on a much shorter timeline.

Trump has lately changed his once friendly tune toward Putin, whom he has long admired and whom he sided with publicly over his national security team during his first term when asked whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.

In recent weeks, Trump has chastised Putin for continuing his brutal assault on Ukrainian cities, even noting that the Russian leader "talks nice and then he bombs everybody."

Trump has continued to blame his White House predecessors for Putin's 2022 invasion on neighboring Ukraine — a conflict he says would have never happened if he were reelected in 2020.

"He’s fooled a lot of people," Trump said Monday at the White House. "He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden. He didn’t fool me."

In February, Trump expressed confidence that Putin "will keep his word" on any deal to end the war in Ukraine. But in an interview with the BBC published Tuesday, when asked whether he trusted Putin, Trump paused before answering.

"I trust almost nobody, to be honest with you," Trump said. "I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him. But I’m disappointed in him."