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Khatami, Seven Others Qualified as Presidential Candidates: Press
Iran's Guardians Council has qualified incumbent President Mohammad Khatami and seven other hopefuls to stand in the upcoming June 8 presidential elections, the official IRNA news agency said on Wednesday.
Quoting the press here, the IRNA disclosed that the above information was acquired by informed parliamentary deputies from sources at the Guardians Council, a constitutional and Islamic watchdog.
Among the other seven hopefuls qualified are Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani, former Information Minister Ali Fallahian, former Labor Minister Ahmad Tavakoli, former Energy Minister Hassan Ghafouri-Fard, head of the Physical Education Organization Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, Chancellor of the Open University Abdullah Jasbi and a university lecturer Mahmoud Kashani.
Since Shamkhani is seen as one of the serious challengers to Khatami, several members of parliament have protested to the participation of military candidates in the elections because "this is against the Iranian constitution," the press said.
On Sunday, the 12-man council whittled down the list of the competitors to 30 from 814. It will go through further examination to decide the final result of its screening by May 18. It vets the contenders to confirm their conformity with the Islamic values.
Campaigning begins on may 19 and will continue until 24 hours before the polls open on June 8.
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