APPLICATIONS for the ticklish job of president of Iran opened this week, with more than 100 hopefuls vying to replace the incumbent, Hassan Rohani, a relative moderate, at the election on May 19th. The religious conservatives who loom so large in Iran are hoping they can unite around a single candidate, overcoming the divisions that doomed their prospects in 2013 and allowed Mr Rohani to win. Their preferred man is Ebrahim Raeisi, the newly appointed head of one of Iran's most important and best-endowed shrines, Imam Reza in Mashhad. In addition to income from the shrine's holdings, which include car factories, he is a protege of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Kha-menei. But to Mr Raeisi's probable consternation, on April 12th a divisive ultra-con-servative former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also entered the race, despite orders from Mr Khamenei not to stand. This makes it more likely that the hardliners will again see their vote split.
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机译：伊朗总统棘手的工作申请表已于本周开始开放，在5月19日的选举中，有100多名希望者竞相取代现任的温和派哈桑·罗哈尼（Hassan Rohani）。在伊朗如此庞大的宗教保守派希望他们能够团结在一个候选人的身边，克服2013年注定了他们前景的分裂，并允许罗哈尼获胜。他们的首选人物是易卜拉欣·雷伊斯（Ebrahim Raeisi），他是伊朗最重要，最受人尊敬的圣地之一，马什哈德的伊玛目·雷扎（Imam Reza）的新任命负责人。除了从神社的财产中获得收入外，神社的财产包括汽车厂，他还是最高领导人阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅尼（Ayatollah Ali Kha-menei）的产物。但令雷伊西先生大为震惊的是，尽管哈梅内伊下令不要参加选举，但极富分裂性的极端保守派前总统艾哈迈迪内贾德（Mahmoud Ahmadinejad）也参加了竞选。这使强硬派更有可能再次看到他们的投票分裂。
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