On May 5, the Iranian Electoral Commission started an official registration of presidential candidates which will end on 9 May, the Iranian Mehr news agency reported. Registration will be held daily from 08:00 to 16:00.
Presidential elections in Iran are held every four years. Candidates may participate in the electoral process after the approval of the Supervisory Board. A person elected as president receives the status after the approval by the supreme spiritual leader. The president who is the second person in the country after the supreme spiritual leader oversees the entire executive body that determines the external and internal policy.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was elected in summer 2005 has not officially announced his participation in the next presidential election.
So far, Chairman of the National Confidence Party Mehdi Karroubi and ex-Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi have been nominated from the reformist camp. Member of the Advisory Council of Iran Mohsen Rezaee is the first candidate from the Conservative camp, which officially announced the participation in the presidential election to be held on June 12.
Some 20 presidential candidates passed official registration till 10:15 on May 5.