Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani has conclusively put an end to talk of whether he will seek re-election. In the past months, rumors were circulating in political circles and social networks about Rouhani’s unwillingness to run in the May 19 presidential elections. This rumored unwillingness wasn’t due to his reluctance to seek a second term, but rather over rising pressure from hard-liners and related reports of his possible disqualification by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council, which is tasked with vetting candidates.

On March 6, news surfaced that Rouhani formed his campaign headquarters. Reports say the campaign will be headed by prominent Reformist figure Mohammad Ali Najafi and moderate Mohammad Shariatmadari.

Najafi, 65, who has been appointed as the head of Rouhani’s campaign think tank, is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has held important positions over the past three decades. He was a leading figure in opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign for the 2009 presidential elections. Since 2012, Mousavi has been under house arrest following the unrest that emerged following the 2009 vote. Shariatmadari, who has been appointed as the head of the central headquarters of Rouhani’s campaign, is now the vice president for executive affairs and has been a member of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, the latter directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Rouhani’s decision to announce the formation of a formal campaign headquarters is meaningful as it comes following rumors circulated by hard-liners that he will abstain from running over the chance that the Guardian Council may disqualify him. The move thus suggests that Rouhani is determined to get re-elected and that his candidacy’s approval by the Guardian Council is certain.