Iran qualifies 8 candidates for presidential election

Iran's Guardian Council of Constitution, the high legislative body of the country, has approved the qualification of eight presidential candidates, semi- official Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday. Reportedly, among the qualified candidates, Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, former foreign minister Ali-Akbar Velayati, senior lawmaker Gholam- Ali Haddad-Adel, and former senior military commander Mohsen Rezaei are the principlist conservatives. Also, Iran's former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani as well as former oil and telecommunication minister Mohammad Gharazi, the moderate candidates, are reported as being qualified by the Guardian Council. According to Mehr, Mohammad-Reza Aref who served as the former Iranian first vice president under the reformist President Mohammad Khatami is also among the hopefuls the qualification of whom has been approved. Media reports about the qualification of candidates have not been officially and independently confirmed by Iranian Interior Ministry. Iran's Guardian Council of Constitution had earlier announced that it would submit the list of approved candidates to Iranian Interior Ministry on Tuesday and the Ministry is set to officially announce the names on Wednesday. According to the Interior Ministry, 686 candidates have registered for the upcoming presidential election of the Islamic republic which is slated for June 14.