Presidential candidate Rafsanjani abides by law regarding his disqualification - advisor
An advisor to ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad-Reza Sadeqzadeh, has said that Mr. Rafsanjani abides by law regarding his disqualification by the Guardian Council for the presidential election, Fars news agency reported.
Sadeqzadeh added that Ayatollah Rafsanjani is committed to the Islamic system and will not dominate his ideas.
"He will certainly announce his points of views to the Guardian Council in this regard," Sadeqzadeh said.
At the same time, Rafsanjani's daughter, Fatima Hashemi said that on May 21, before the Guardian Council revealed the names, her father received a message urging him to withdraw his candidacy from the election race, opposition website rahesabz.net reported.
According to the website, Fatima Hashemi also said that she believes her father will not be addressing this issue.
Late on May 21, the Guardian Council of Iran revealed the list of names approved for participation at the upcoming presidential elections in the country.
The council said that the country's Constitution and the election law were the criteria for vetting presidential hopefuls.
The Guardian Council approved MP Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, Hassan Rohani, the director of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council, former First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi, and former Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati.
Iran will hold the 11th presidential election on June 14.
The voters will select the successor of the current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is not able to participate in the elections for the third term according to the country's constitutional laws.
The president of Iran is elected for a four-year term in a national election and the Guardian Council vets the candidates for qualifications.