DPA — Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that he will run in the spring 2017 presidential election, Shargh daily reported on Tuesday.

The former speaker for Ahmadinejad's government, Gholam-Hossein Elham, informed the board responsible for the election of Ahmadinejad's intention to stand, the report said.

Ahmadinejad is expected to launch his comeback campaign.

He appeared for the first time in public this year on Monday when he gave a speech in Narmak mosque in Tehran, but he neither confirmed nor denied his comeback plan, despite enthusiastic calls from his supporters.

The hardline president, who held office from 2005 to 2013, signaled his desire to return to politics in April and attacked current Iranian President Hassan Rohani as incompetent.

Following the drubbing they received in February's parliamentary elections, the hardliners are now pinning their hopes on Ahmadinejad, convinced that only he can prevent reformist Rohani's re-election.