Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a close aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been barred from contesting the June 14 Iranian presidential election, state media reported on Tuesday.
Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad's crony Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei were disqualified by the Guardian Council, Iran's electoral watchdog, which approved a list of eight candidates. The Fars news agency carried the list announced by the Interior Ministry later on Tuesday.
The Guardian Council did not state specific reasons for disqualifying them. Exclusion of Rafsanjani is considered to be a clear setback for reformists who hoped that he could beat conservative hardliners close to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is now seen as a front-runner among the eight who included Hassan Rowhani, a close Rafsanjani ally, former Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati, and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf.
A two-term President and current head of the Expediency Council, a position appointed by Khamenei, Rafsanjani's exit from the presidential race was unexpected. Rafsanjani or Mashaei had not commented on the decision.
All female candidates were also removed from the list of candidates. Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a member of the Guardian Council, said last week that the "law does not approve" of a woman in the presidency and a woman on the ballot was "not allowed." Nearly 30 women had registered as candidates to contest the election. Ahmadinejad is not a contestant as the Constitution does not allow a third presidential term.
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