Majlis speaker Ali Larijani announced on Sunday that he has no plan to run for the next presidential elections. "I have no plan for this issue," Larijani told reporters when asked about his possible candidacy for the 2013 presidential polls.
Until his announcement today Larijani was seen as a main principlist contender in the presidential elections in the late spring next year, reported Mehr.
Larijani, a scholar-turned politician, ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005. He came 6th among seven candidates.
Larijani was appointed the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power in 2005. As the head of the SNSC, Larijani represented Iran in the high profile nuclear negotiations with the West - most notably the European Union trio of Germany, France and Britain - which was led by the then EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
However, Larijani resigned the post in October 2007 and won a seat in parliament from the Qom Constituency and subsequently he was elected the speaker of the parliament.
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