TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has filed to run in the May presidential election.

Raisi, 56, a professor of Islamic law, has served in the country's judiciary for decades. He is also a member of the Assembly of Experts, an all-cleric body that will rule on Khamenei's succession. Raisi is also a prosecutor at the Special Cleric Court.

Ebrahim Raisi announced his intention in a statement Sunday in which he said Iran is suffering from "structural chronic illness and incorrect managerial traditions."

Iranian hard-liners had widely hope Raisi would challenge incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

In 2016, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Raisi as head of the Imam Reza charity foundation, which owns a large business conglomerate and endowments in Iran.