[3][4] According to the official dates announced on 1 April 2017 by the Ministry of Interior:[5] During the five days period, a total of 1,636 individuals put their name to run for president, an increase over the 686 candidates in the previous election in 2013.

[6] Some intended to gain public attention, including political prisoners Mehdi Khazali and former MP Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi,a millionaire property developer applied from Australia Alireza Ahmadian[9] and some women tried to challenge the judicial interpretation of word rejal as "men", most notably Azam Taleghani.

[12] On 11 February 2017, he officially declared that he would not back any candidate, however, in a video released on 19 March 2017 he announced his support for Hamid Baghaei[13] and surprised observers by himself registering to run.

[15] In his statement, Ghalibaf accused current president Hassan Rouhani of financial mismanagement and asserted that he and his supporters were "revolutionary opportunists.

[18]Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) provides each candidate with 210 minutes for campaign talks on TV,[20] and there would be three debate sessions on politics, economics, and social pressing issues aired on Channel 1.

Rouhani later changed strategy by simply attacking his rivals[28] and the incumbent administration used fearmongering tactics to encourage people to vote.

[29] Social media was traditionally a tool for the reformists to campaign, but the presence of conservatives during the election was unprecedented in Iranian political history.

[31] It serves as a platform for Iranians to express their political opinions[32] and played an important role in the campaigns for the elections held in 2016 for Parliament and Assembly of Experts.

[33] Twitter is blocked in Iran, however, Iranians use proxies to tweet and those that create a buzz, then travel to Telegram channels, where "they can potentially reach a much wider audience" according to BBC.

[34] Two months before election, Iranian Judiciary arrested some pro-Hassan Rouhani Telegram channel administrators for "crimes against public morals and publishing obscenity”.

[37] Another reason cited for the nomination was to have an 'alternative candidate' in case the Guardian Council disqualified Rouhani[40] or raise his profile for a bid in 2021 election.

MP Alireza Rahimi questioned the meeting and asked for explanations about the reasons for it, citing alleged Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election.

[91][92] According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, Minnikhanov also met vice president Eshaq Jahangiri in Tehran one day earlier, discussing bilateral relations.

[95] The Tehran Stock Exchange rallied after the election results came out, extending a recent winning streak to close almost 1% higher at its highest level in three months.