Iranian Guardian Council begins vetting presidential candidates

TEHRAN,May 13(MNA) – The Guardian Council started vetting the candidates for the Iranian presidential election due in June, council’s spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told the Mehr News Agency on Sunday. According to the Constitution, the Guardian Council, a 12-member body consisted of six law experts and six religious jurists, is tasked with vetting candidates and supervising elections. More than 680 hopefuls, including two dozen women, registered for the presidential election in a six-day period ending on Saturday. Kadkhodaei also commented on President Ahmadinejad’s move, in which he accompanied his close aide, presidential hopeful Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, on Saturday to the Interior Ministry, where Rahim Mashaei put his name forward, saying it was an “electoral irregularity” which will be reported to the Judiciary. He added that there are a number of irregularities that can influence the vetting process of the candidates. According to the law, people who hold official posts are not allowed to support candidates. However, Ahmadinejad dismissed the criticism, nonchalantly saying that he was “on a day off from work” on Saturday. After registration, in a joint press conference with Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad said, “Mashaei means Ahmadinejad and Ahmadinejad means Mashaei.” Among prominent political figures who have signed up for presidency are Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, former first vice president Mohammad Reza Aref, and MP Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel.