Azerbaijan, Baku, May 15 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Thus far six Iranian politicians have withdrawn their candidacies from the presidential race in the country, IRIB News reported quoting Iranian Election Commission Chairman Sulat Mortazavi.
Mortazavi said that Iran's first vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Iranian Agriculture Jihad Minister Sadeq Khalilian and Press adviser to the Iranian President Ali Akbar Javanfekr are among these six people.
"If there are more current hopefuls that wish to withdraw their candidacies, they can submit a special request letter to the Interior Ministry," Mortazavi said.
Official registration of candidates for Iran's upcoming presidential elections started on May 7, and lasted until May 11. Nearly 700 people have submitted their registrations for the presidential race.
From May 12-16, Iran's Guardian Council looks into the each candidate, and determines whether a candidate is eligible for participating.
If a candidate, for some reason is not eligible for participating in the elections according to the Guardian Council, then from May 17-21, that candidate will have time to protest the decision.
Iran's Interior Ministry will unveil the names of the candidates which are competitive enough to participate in the elections on May 22-23.
After the candidates have been determined, the pre-election campaigns would begin on May 24, and end on June 12.
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.