
The Interior Ministry has announced the names of eight people approved by the Guardian Council to run the in the presidential election, and the names of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashai are not included in the list.
The approved candidates are Saeed Jalili, Gholamali Haddad Adel, Mohsen Rezai, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Hassan Rohani, Mohammadreza Aref, Mohammad Gharazi and Ali Akbar Velayati.
A Mehr News Agency report issued earlier on Tuesday proved to be accurate about the list and the disqualification of the two controversial candidates.
Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani was the top candidate from the reformist camp and Esfandiar Rahim Mashai was the one endorsed by the Ahmadinejad administration. Both camps are severely out of favour with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his conservative hardliners.
The Ministry of the Interior had 48 hours to announce the list of candidates, according to regulations, but instead it chose to announce the list late Tuesday via the national state broadcaster.
The elections will be held on June 14.