Two key candidates barred from Iran election

Iran's electoral watchdog has barred former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a close aide to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in the June 14 presidential election, state media has reported.

Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei were disqualified by the Guardian Council which approved a list of eight candidates announced by the interior ministry late on Tuesday, Fars news agency reported.
Saeed Jalili, the country's chief nuclear negotiator, is now seen as a front-runner.

This means the race for Iran's next president is now between Saeed Jalili, the country's chief nuclear negotiator, and other candidates who manage to get support from moderates.

There have been wide speculations that Mashaei would be excluded from the list. But not Rafsanjani, a two-term president and current head of the Expediency Council, a position appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader.

Their exclusion from the June 14 presidential ballot gives establishment-friendly candidates a clear path to succeed Ahmadinejad, who has lost favour with the ruling clerics after years of power struggles.

It also pushes moderate and opposition voices further to the margins as Iran's leadership faces critical challenges such as international sanctions and talks with world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Time for appeals

Rafsanjani or Mashaei did not immediately comment on the decision.
Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, is also running for president.

The official ballot list, announced on state TV, followed a nearly six-hour delay in which the names were kept under wraps.

That raised speculation that authorities allowed some time for appeals by the blackballed candidates and their backers to Khamenei, who has final say in all matters.

Other candidates who were approved were Hassan Rowhani, a close Rafsanjani ally, and Ali-Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister.

Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran since 2005, is also included in the list, as well as Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, the speaker of parliament, and Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who came third in the 2009 presidential election.

Female candidates excluded

All female candidates were also excluded.
Presidential candidate Ali Akbar Velayati once served as Iran's foreign minister.

On Thursday last week, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a member of election watchdog, said women cannot be presidential candidates, effectively killing the largely symbolic bids by about 30 women seeking the presidency.

Yazdi said that the "law does not approve'' of a woman in the presidency and a woman on the ballot is "not allowed".

A total of 686 people had registered to replace Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third mandate because of term limits.

Any of the choices would create a possibly seamless front between the ruling clerics and presidency after years of political turmoil under Ahmadinejad, who tried to challenge the theocracy's vast powers to make all major decisions and set key policies.

Iran's presidency, meanwhile, is expected to convey the ruling clerics' views on the world stage and not set its own diplomatic agenda.

While the election is not expected to bring major shifts in Iran's position on its nuclear programme - which Tehran insists is peaceful despite Western fears it could lead to atomic weapons - it could open opportunities to renew stalled talks with a six-nation group that includes the US.

On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said Iran's nuclear stance will "not change either before or after the election".

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies