An Iranian-American college professor hopes to be Iran's next president. But the motivation for Hooshang Amirahmadi's quixotic campaign is to re-establish trust between the United States and Iran.
In a weeklong registration process that ended Saturday, presidential candidates registered at the Ministry of Interior, where the Guardian Council -- the most influential clerical body in Iran that operates under the watchful eyes of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei -- will assess and announce whom it deems to be qualified nominees in the coming week.
"The biggest challenge right now is the lack of trust, a trust that over time, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has been diminished to zero." Amirahmadi considers trust key to building the future of Iran while re-establishing relations with the United States.
For more three decades Amirahmadi has lived in both the United States and Iran. An economist and scholar, he joined Rutgers University in 1983, where he's currently a professor of planning and international development. Amirahmadi's career took a more public turn in 1997 when he founded the American Iranian Council, a think tank that provides a base for research, analysis and dialogue between the U.S. and Iran.
This would be Amirahmadi's second attempt to enter Iran's presidential election. In 2005 the Guardian Council rejected his candidacy.
If he is rejected, Amirahmadi said this election won't end his decade-long efforts for change.
"I'm building a political organization that will work with others for a better Iran -- an Iran that's friendly with U.S., has a solid economy and democracy, and ultimately an Iran that belongs to the international community."
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