Critics believe Ahmadinejad won't make it past that stage.
Two high-profile candidates have risen above the fray to steal the media's focus: Ebrahim Raisi, the figure expected to succeed Ayatollah Khamenei as Supreme Leader, Iran's most important religious and political figure; and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country's controversial former president. Ahmadinejad's defiance of the Supreme Leader might also count against him.
Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said he was signing up as a candidate to support his former vice president, Hamid Baghaei, another presidential hopeful.
Stunned election officials went ahaead and processed Mr Ahmadinejad's paperwork.
Iran's former hardline president Mahmud Ahmadinejad took the surprise move today of registering for next month's presidential election. Although the constitution does not block a former president from returning to office - a sitting president is limited to two terms - it hasn't happened before. Iran's economy also suffered under heavy worldwide sanctions during his administration because of Western suspicions that Tehran was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.
Also, under his administrations, Iran's worldwide ties were brought to an unprecedented low point and the country's nuclear dossier escalated into a drawn-out diplomatic impasse, resolved peacefully in 2015 under the Rouhani administration.
U.S. berates Syria at OPCW meeting on Syrian chemical attack
The meeting was called to discuss the April 4 attack on the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun that killed almost 90 people. In an exclusive video interview with Agence France-Presse, he said "there was no order to make any attack".
His disputed re-election in 2009 sparked massive protests and a sweeping crackdown in which thousands of people were detained, dozens killed and others tortured. Internationally, Mr Ahmadinejad's frequent comments predicting the demise of Israel and questioning the scale of the Holocaust often raised alarm.
"Disregarding the Supreme Leader's recommendation damages the system and frustrates the aspirations of the people", he added, according the Iran-run website 'Itimad-Online'. "He's not a diplomat, he doesn't have the support of the Supreme Leader and the last time he was in office he left behind a big mess". The Guardian Council, a body of jurists and clerics who are close to Khamenei, vets all candidates before any elections in Iran, in a process that has been the subject of controversy.
While conservatives are anxious that Ahmadinejad or Baghaei's presence might split their votes, allies of Rouhani are also concerned about the attractiveness of populist candidates with nationalist anti-establishment slogans. In March, the judiciary said the case was still open, Reuters news agency reports.
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad submitted his name for registration for the May 19 presidential election on Wednesday in an apparent reversal of earlier promises not to run. The council normally does not approve dissidents or women for the formal candidate list.
In July 2015, Iran signed the US -led nuclear deal, lifting economic sanctions and filling the coffers of the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism with billions of dollars.
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