Vetting of Iranian presidential hopefuls over, ‘only seven’ candidates approved

Iran’s Constitutional Council has confirmed that it has finished vetting individuals hoping to run for president in the June 18 election and that it has handed over a final list of approved candidates to the Interior Ministry.

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaee, spokesman for the Council, said on Tuesday (May 25) that the body had completed the vetting process and forwarded the list of qualified individuals to the Ministry of the Interior late on Monday, Press TV reported.

Reports had emerged on Monday night that the vetting had been over and the Interior Ministry had received the list. But neither the Constitutional Council nor the Ministry had commented until now.

The silence was particularly pronounced given that one report said two heavyweight candidates — Iranian Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri and former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani — had been disqualified.

Only seven individuals approved: Spokesman 

The Interior Ministry has two days to publish the Council’s list. It had not released the names as of 06:45 GMT on Tuesday.

Separately, Kadkhodaee told ISNA that only seven individuals had been approved to run for president. He did not name them, though, explaining that the Interior Ministry would announce the names.

MG