Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Iranwire – Iran’s Guardian Council announced the list of approved candidates for the country’s snap presidential election on Sunday.
It confirmed the qualifications of six contenders while disqualifying some prominent figures.
Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, Saeed Jalili, Massoud Pezeshkian, Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Alireza Zakani, and Mustafa Pourmohammadi were qualified to run for the presidential seat.
However, the Guardian Council, the influential vetting body, disqualified former parliament speaker Ali Larijani and former two-term president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running.
Larijani and his brothers have held high positions in the Islamic Republic since 1979. He is a former director of the state broadcaster and nuclear negotiator.
Masoud Pezeshkian is the only pro-reform politician on the list of final candidates for the June 28 presidential election.
He was a health minister in Mohammad Khatami’s cabinet from 2001 to 2005 and has been a parliamentarian since 2008.
He has criticized some of the Islamic Republic’s hardliners in the past and has regularly expressed his support for reforms in Iran.
The snap presidential vote is scheduled for June 28, following the helicopter crash in East Azarbaijan province that killed Ebrahim Raisi last month.
