Iran's former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezaei (C) waves to the media while registering his candidacy for the presidential election in Tehran, capital of Iran, May 8, 2009. Rezaei formally registered his candidacy on Friday for the June 12 presidential election. (Xinhua/Liang Youchang)Iran's former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezaei formally registered his candidacy on Friday for the June 12 presidential election.
Rezaei, who is now secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, brought his documents and went through the registration procedure in the Interior Ministry.
Rezaei is the first heavyweight conservative candidate so far to register for the upcoming presidential election.
Iran's incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not officially announced his candidacy, but he is also expected to register his name later.
Rezaei, who was IRGC commander from 1981 to 1997, also ran as a candidate in the last presidential election in 2005, but withdrew on June 15, 2005, just two days before the election.
So far, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the former prime minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989, and Mehdi Karroubi, who served as the parliament speaker from 1989 to 1992 and from 2000 to 2004, have announced to run for presidency but have not registered.
Iran's former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezaei speaks to the media after registering his candidacy for the presidential election in Tehran, capital of Iran, May 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Candidates can register their names between 8:00 am (0330 GMT) to 4:00 pm (1130 GMT) with the Interior Ministry from May 5 to May 9. So far more than 170 people have registered their names as prospective candidates.
Iran's Guardians Council will finalize the name list of those who can run for the presidency after screening the registered candidates.
Source: Xinhua
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