PROFILE - Saeed Jalili, conservative candidate running for Iran's presidency

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) — Saeed Jalili, a high-profile Iranian diplomat and politician, was one of the first candidates to announce his bid for Iran's presidency on the first day to register to run for office on April 30.

Jalili, a conservative political figure, garnered 9.4 million votes in Friday's snap presidential election, ending in the second spot after senior lawmaker and reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian.

The two will now face each other in a run-off election on July 5 as they got the maximum number of votes but fell short of the 50 percent vote mark.

After filing his application for candidacy on April 30, Jalili spoke of the "historic opportunity" facing the Iranian nation and pledged to keep alive the legacy of late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

Jalili's notable assignments include leading the country's nuclear talks with the US in 2007-2013 under then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He also served as head of the Supreme National Security Council, a top influential security body in the country.

Before that, he was deputy director of North and Central America at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

In 2013, Jalili made his first bid for the presidency and finished third. In 2021, he joined the race again but eventually pulled out in favor of the eventual winner, Raisi.

He has been one of the most vocal opponents of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a position he highlighted in his election campaign, including in televised debates.

Pre-election opinion polls showed Jalili and parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf evenly poised for victory, but voters completely bucked this forecast on Friday, with Qalibaf ending up in third place with just 3.3 million votes, roughly one-third of his conservative rival.

Importantly, Jalili was closely involved in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and lost part of his leg after a frontline injury.

In 2013, he was appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the Expediency Council, a powerful administrative assembly tasked with resolving policy disputes in the country.

In the presidential debates, Jalili said he would "make the enemy regret" its actions of imposing sanctions on Iran, adding that he had an "action plan" to do this if elected president.

He also dismissed claims that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal benefited the country economically, arguing that economic growth was "zero and negative" when the accord was signed.

Jalili has also advocated strongly for mandatory hijab (Islamic headscarf), accusing the West of concealing the "glorious role" Iranian women had in various fields. He called the hijab a dress code to "preserve and strengthen the sanctity of the institution of family."​​​​​​​