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The slate of six candidates in Iran’s presidential election includes just one reformist figure, although one of the others – Mostafa Pourmohammadi – is seen as a relatively moderate conservative. Only three of the candidates look like genuine contenders: hardliners Saeed Jalili and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the only reformist figure Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iran’s election campaign is under way with conservative hopeful Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the more hardline Saeed Jalili battling with moderate candidate Masoud Pezeshkian to become Iran’s next president, in an election whose outcome is likely to hinge on how many apathetic voters can be persuaded to turn out and how many conservative contenders decide to pull out before polling day on 28 June.

The US Air Force Office of Special Investigations is believed to have opened an inquiry into a planned support services contract at Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih Air Base, following allegations over kickbacks and claims of links between a local subcontractor and Iran-backed militias.

Stockholm has released former public prosecutor Hamid Nouri, who was sentenced to life in prison by a Swedish court in July 2022 for his role in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in Iran.

Former Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani may once more be in charge of indirect talks with the US over the nuclear file, with Oman acting as the key intermediary.

Two months after Majles-e Khobregan-e Rahbari (Assembly of Experts) elections, 93 year-old Mohammad Movahedi Kermani has been named to lead the sometimes influential body.

More than 80 men and women registered to stand in the Iranian presidential election being held later this month, but the number actually allowed to compete is likely to be in the single figures once the Guardian Council vets all the prospective candidates. Unlike the last election in 2021, there appears to be a chance that some moderate figures will be allowed to run on 28 June.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa says there is “no reason to delay” the restoration of diplomatic relations with Tehran, some eight years after they were severed, while Iran’s acting president has invited Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to visit, in a further sign of Tehran’s efforts to improve relations with its Arab neighbours.

Qatar’s Emir Tamim was among the few foreign heads of state to attend the late Iranian president’s funeral in Tehran, while other GCC states sent their foreign ministers. In a febrile mood, three former Iranian presidents didn’t attend the service, for reasons unknown.

President Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials were killed when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in poor weather in East Azerbaijan province on 19 May. New presidential elections are due to take place within 50 days, amid other major questions for Iran’s political-religious elite.

No official statistics have been released, but media reports in Iran pointed to voter turnout of just 8% in the capital Tehran in run-off election held in May for the final 45 seats in the Majlis-e Shura.

Former foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi is one of several senior figures to warn that Tehran would have to change its self-declared ban on nuclear weapons if Iran felt its nuclear facilities were being threatened by Israel.

Iranian officials have been engaged in a flurry of meetings and phone calls with GCC member states, in a sign that Tehran may be trying to leverage regional anger over the Gaza conflict to improve relations with its Arab neighbours.

Buenos Aires is seeking to arrest Ahmad Vahidi over the bombing of a Jewish community centre in which 85 people were killed, after Argentina’s highest court found Iran to blame for the events 30 years ago.

Allies and enemies are anxiously waiting to see if the Israeli government will escalate regional conflict further after more than 300 projectiles were fired from Iran at Israel on 13-14 April in Tehran’s retaliation to the Israeli strike that killed IRGC commanders in Damascus. Most of the drones and missiles were shot down, but a few hit Israeli military bases, causing limited damage.