Azerbaijan, Baku, April 11 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Head of the Center for Strategic Research of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council and former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rouhani has officially announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections in Iran, Fars reported.
According to some Iranian websites, reformist Rouhani is being supported by two of the prominent and influencal political figures in Iran - country's former presidents Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.
At the conference, where Rouhani announced his candidacy, children of former president Rafsanjani, Yasir and Fatemeh Hashemi were present, showing their support for the candidate.
The eleventh election of the President of Iran is scheduled to be held on 14 June 2013 to elect the seventh President, successor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is barred from standing for a third term.
Thus far, there are 17 political figures, who have expressed their will to participate in the upcoming presidential elections.
Most of these 17 candidates are, in one way or another, connected to former (Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Rafsanjani) and or current (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) presidents. Others are MPs, members of Iran's Expediency Council, or former military commanders.