The second day of registration for Iran's upcoming presidential election on Wednesday May 12 was highlighted by the presence of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his loud entourage.

After registering his candidacy, Ahmadinejad read out a statement in which he said he would not vote and will not support even his own closest allies if the Guardian Council rejects his qualification as a candidate. The former president was barred from running in the 2017 elections by the Guardian Council and turned into a staunch critic of the Islamic Republic’s political situation, even the performance of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad in his statement criticized President Hassan Rouhani and accused him of lying. Reformist journalist Asal Dadashlou wrote in a tweet: "It is a bitter irony that Ahmadinejad who used to stare into cameras and lie, accuses others of spreading lies."

Meanwhile, tens of Ahmadinejad's fans accompanied him into the Interior Ministry while a couple of hundred of his other supporters chanted slogans outside the Ministry building. At one point Ahmadinejad climbed the fences to wave for the cheering fans.

Ahmadinejad's supporters sounded as defiant as himself. They chanted: "This is our last message: This is the end of reformists and principlists." The slogan was borrowed from the 2018 and 2019 anti-government protesters who shouted their independence from the leading political factions and introduced themselves as a new force in Iran's politics.

The eventful registration climaxed with a fight between Ahmadinejad's entourage and the Ministry's security. Ruhollah Jomehei, an adviser to the Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said during a conversation in audio chat application Clubhouse: Those who want to restore law and order are expected to abide by the registration protocols," Khabar Online reported. Khabar Online also noted that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry does not allow more than one person to accompany each candidate during registration. 

A conservative Iranian journalist, Alireza Khoshbakht wrote in a tweet, "Ahmadinejad has a thousand weakness and one point of strength: He is brave." Khoshbakht added: "This cannot be denied, nor should it be ridiculed. Anyone not as brave as him cannot ridicule him."

Another Iranian journalist Hossein Dehbashi tweeted: "Ahmadinejad is the only candidate that can change assumptions about the results of the election if his credentials are endorsed by the Guardian Council." Many Iranian analysts have said during previous years that Ahmadinejad has the potential to win at least 15 million votes in an election on any given day.

Dehbashi, a centrist journalist, continued: "All Iranian reformists, conservatives, opposition groups and those who demand a regime change should ask themselves why so many people still support Ahmadinejad in spite of several years of criticism of his debatable performance."

Khabar Online posted a picture showing Ahmadinejad walking among his supporters for a few hundred meters before reaching the Interior Ministry building. This is something done by no other candidate.

Some of Ahmadinejad's supporters force their way into the Interior Ministry

Among other candidates who registered their candidacy on Wednesday, was former Oil Minister under Ahmadinejad, Rostam Qasemi (Ghassemi), an ex-IRGC officer who is accused of mishandling funds and giving way to one of the biggest cases of financial corruption in Iran.

Qasemi has said that he is the only presidential candidate who knows how to further international negotiations. On Wednesday, a frontpage advertorial in Jomleh newspaper called Qasemi "one of the world's top 500 powerful men."

While several other low-key candidates including deputy Majles Speaker Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi also registered their candidacy, two of the most influential candidates, Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeesi and former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani have not yet registered although those close to them reiterated on Wednesday that they will register in the coming days.

Registration for the June 18 presidential election will continue until Saturday May 15.