Iran's Interior Ministry announces final list of presidential candidates
Iran's Interior Ministry on Thursday night gave the following list of candidates(in alphabetical order) vetted by the Guardian Council.
The vetting body was examining the qualifications of more than 1,600 candidates who registered to run for president for days.
is also a member of the Expediency Council. He used to be a senior aide to former President Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and an ex-minister of culture and Islamic guidance, and a former caretaker of the Presidential Office.
was a vice president under former Presidents Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, a former minister of industries, and the former head of the Sports Organization.
, who currently serves as the first vice president, used to be the minister of mines and metals under Khatami, the governor of Isfahan, and a parliamentarian.
was a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' Air Force, an ex-chief of the national police, and a former commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbya Air Defense Base (formerly known as Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters).
is the chief custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, the organization managing the affairs of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), the eighth Shia Imam, in the city of Mashhad. Besides performing in other positions, he used to function as the attorney general of Iran's Administrative Court of Justice.
, the incumbent Iranian president, is a member of the Expediency Council. The former posts he used to fill include membership of the Assembly of Experts, which appoints the country's leader, membership of Majlis (Iranian Parliament), and headship of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
he qualified candidates can now start election campaigning until 8 a.m.May 18, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Disqualified among the high-profile aspirants were former two-time President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadand his former aide Hamid Baghaei.
Earlier this month, the Iranian Judiciary spokesman said lawsuits filed against the Ahmadinejad and Baqaeiwith regard to administrative violations were open and no final verdicts had been still given on them.
Speaking to reporters on April 16, Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said the lawsuitswere filed against Ahmadinejadin the capacity of president and havenot yet led to the deliveryof a verdict.
A number of lawsuits have been filed with Iran's judicial officials after Ahmadinejad's term in office concluded among which cases of malfeasance are more prominent.
Out of major cases filed against the former president are three complaints by the Iranian Parliament's Article 90 Commission.