TEHRAN, June 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ultraconservative Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi has announced his withdrawal from Iran's presidential race, the interior ministry said Thursday, a day ahead of the election.

Ghazizadeh-Hashemi "announced his withdrawal to the Ministry of Interior" on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement.

Vice president to former president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May, Ghazizadeh-Hashemi ended his campaign without endorsing a specific candidate.

Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, 53, is a medical doctor and a staunch supporter of Raisi's government who also serves as head of the Martyrs' Foundation, tasked with providing support to the families of those killed in service of the country.

In the 2021 presidential election, he secured 3.5 percent of the vote.

"To preserve the unity of the forces of the revolution ... I will withdraw from continuing the path" to the presidential election, Ghazizadeh-Hashemi said in a post on X late Wednesday.
 
In his message, the vice president urged other conservative and ultraconservative candidates to "also agree" on one candidate to offer a united front.

The remaining conservative and ultraconservative candidates are parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani and veteran politician Mostafa Pourmohammadi.

Massoud Pezeshkian is the sole reformist candidate and has received the backing of former president Hassan Rouhani.