Azerbaijan, Baku, May.25/ Trend F.Karimov/
Mohammad Shariatmadari, the Iranian presidential candidate, who withdrew his candidacy from the upcoming elections in favor of ex-president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is making attempts to unite reformist candidates Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad-Reza Areaf, the Mehr News Agency quoted Mohsen Bahrami, who is close to Shariatmadari as saying.
Shariatmadari tries to unite other candidate Gharazi with Aref and Rouhani in order to provide a better opportunity for people to choose the best candidate, Bahrami told Mehr.
Shariatmadari is a former Minister of Trade under Iran's another ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
Although Hassan Rouhani introduced himself as an independent candidate, he also considers himself as a reformist. The leader of the reformists' camp and ex-President Mohammad Khatami, as well as chairman of the Iranian Expediency Council Hashemi Rafsanjani, support the candidacy of Rouhani.
Reformist candidate Mohammad-Reza Aref, who was vice-president of Iranian ex-President Mohammad Khatami, is a member of the Iranian Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, as well as a member of the Consultative Council. According to the poll of a number of Iranian media, Aref is a successful candidate from the reformists' camp.
Iran will hold the 11th presidential election on June 14, 2013.
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.