Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that he would take up with the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the ban against his top aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei from running the upcoming presidential election, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The rights of the oppressed would not be ignored under the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei. "I will take up the issue with him (Khamenei) and pursue it to the last moment, and I hope the problem will be solved," ISNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in Tehran.
He called upon his followers and supporters of Mashaei to be "patient" until the issue was solved, according to the report.
Without stating any specific reason, the Guardian Council, Iran's electoral watchdog, on Tuesday disqualified Mashaei and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from contesting the June 14 presidential election.
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