Iranian ultra-conservative candidates Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Alireza Zakani announced their withdrawal from the Iranian presidential elections scheduled for Friday.

Hashemi, 53, announced on Wednesday that he had withdrawn his candidature, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry on Thursday. Hashemi said his decision aims to "consolidate the conservative faction and strengthen their collective chances in the upcoming election."

Having served as deputy to former president Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on 19 May, Hashemi ended his campaign without endorsing any candidate.

"I hope my three brothers will also unite in the remaining time to strengthen the revolutionary front," Hashemi wrote on X.

Hashemi, a physician and a former member of parliament, served as a member of its presidium and first deputy speaker. He ran for the presidency in 2021 and lost, receiving 5% of the vote.

Hashemi also called on other conservative and ultra-conservative candidates to "agree" on a candidate to form a united front.

After Hashemi, the conservative mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani, announced on X that he would no longer participate in the vote.

This leaves the Speaker of the Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi and MP Masoud Pezeshkian, who is classified as the only reformist.