Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Iran's presidential contest headed toward a showdown between the country's hard-line judiciary chief and moderate former Central Bank chief on Wednesday, as two candidates dropped out on the last day of campaigning to clear a path for the challengers.
Mohsen Mehralizadeh, the only reformist candidate in the vote, as well as hard-line contender Alireza Zakani withdrew from the race, state media reported, leaving just five candidates in the field. Such dropouts are common in Iranian presidential elections in order to boost the chances of similar candidates. No campaigning is allowed on Thursday, 24 hours before polls open.
The departure of 64-year-old Mehralizadeh, who served as governor in two Iranian provinces, is aimed at consolidating support for top banker Abdolnasser Hemmati, who has positioned himself as a leading moderate and stand-in for President Hassan Rouhani, who is term-limited from running again.
Polling and analysts indicate Hemmati lags behind hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, the presumed front-runner long cultivated by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Also ending his campaign, Zakani, a 55-year-old hard-line lawmaker twice rejected from running for president, threw his support behind Raisi.
"I consider him (Raisi) to be the most qualified," Zakani was quoted as saying by state TV. Other candidates were expected to follow suit later Wednesday. Over 200 lawmakers in parliament, which is dominated by hard-liners, released a statement urging the rest of the conservative contenders to withdraw and back Raisi's presidential bid.
Some candidates, however, doubled down on their campaigning. In a mass text message to citizens, hard-liner Mohsen Rezaei repeated his pledges to expand affordable housing for the country's poorest, pay monthly salaries to homemakers and provide all Iranians with a monthly $20 stipend.
Mehralizadeh, the pro-reform candidate, had previously served as vice president in charge of physical education under reformist President Mohammad Khatami and as a deputy in the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which runs the country's civilian nuclear program. He came in last place in Iran's 2005 election, but found himself barred from running in 2015.
Hard-liner Zakani heads the parliament's research center. As a lawmaker, he became known for his outspoken opposition to Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Starting in the late 1990s, he served as head of students' Basij organization, affiliated with the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
As the field narrowed on Wednesday and Hemmati sought to rally the pro-reform vote, he announced that he'd select current Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to join his administration as either vice president or foreign minister, embracing the top diplomat who was an architect of Tehran's now-tattered nuclear deal.
"The economic development of Iran is not possible without strong diplomatic engagement abroad," Hemmati wrote on Twitter to explain his choice of Zarif. "My administration is after the removal of sanctions and use of foreign policy to achieve political development."
Zarif, among the best-known political figures in the Rouhani administration, has come under fire from the political establishment in recent weeks after the leak of a contentious audiotape in which he offered a blunt appraisal of power struggles in the Islamic Republic.
There was no immediate word from Zarif on Hemmati's announcement, but the minister has previously indicated a willingness to join the incoming administration.
Within Iran, candidates exist on a political spectrum that broadly includes hard-liners who want to expand Iran's nuclear program and confront the world, moderates who hold onto the status quo and reformists who want to change the theocracy from within.
Although a range of prominent reformists and key Rouhani allies registered to run for president, Iran's clerical vetting body allowed just several low-profile candidates, mostly hard-liners, to run against Raisi. Owing in part to the disqualifications as well as the raging coronavirus pandemic, voter apathy runs deep. The state-linked Iranian Student Polling Agency has most recently projected a 42% turnout from the country's 59 million eligible voters, which would be a historic low amid mounting calls for a boycott.
Rouhani, who had publicly protested the Guardian Council's rejection of high-profile nominees, pleaded with the Iranian public to vote nonetheless.
"The way of expressing our complaints is not turning our backs on ballot boxes. ... Some may say that the situation has become so tough for us. I tell them to cast their votes despite the troubles," he said. "Going to polling stations in present circumstances ... makes us more powerful."
In video widely shared on social media Wednesday, former reformist President Khatami urges pro-reform Iranians to vote despite their disappointment in the approved candidate list. He accused powerful hard-liners of vaulting Raisi to power at the expense of wider political participation.
"I hope the people make an effort, show up and vote to reverse this plan by a political faction to bring some people to power at any cost," he said.
Separately, Khatami praised Mehalizadeh for his withdrawal, saying it will "prevent the splitting of (reformist) votes."
And though Khatami did not endorse any specific candidate, his appeals could help Hemmati attract support from disillusioned reformists.
------
Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.