TEHRAN – The five-day registration period for presidential candidates ended last midnight and according to Interior Ministry officials over 300 people registered to run for president.

Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, National Confidence Party leader Mahdi Karrubi, and former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Mohsen Rezai were the most prominent politicians who signed up.
Former lawmakers Akbar A’lami and Raf’at Bayat were also among those who registered.
Iran’s constitution has not laid down strict criteria for presidential hopefuls and that is why many people with a variety of motivations sign up, even persons with the least executive experience and literacy.
However, all candidates are carefully vetted by the oversight Guardian Council and many of them are disqualified in the first stages of studying their record.
Lawmakers recently voted for a bill to set certain conditions for presidential aspirants, but the Guardian Council rejected the bill, stating it was contrary to the Constitution.
Lawmakers argue that the current law which even allows an uneducated farmer to sign up for president is deficient and a waste of time which also degrades the post of president.
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani was critical of the law on Friday. He said it damages Iran’s international reputation when only a few candidates finally qualify.
Although in the past presidential elections no woman has ever managed to qualify for the race, the Guardian Council says there is no legal constraint if any woman possesses the necessary qualifications for administering the country.
And that is why Rafat Bayat from Zanjan province is among those who have put down their names.
Masoumeh Ebtekar, a former aide to Mohammad Khatami, had declared she would run for president but she dropped out of the race in favor of Mousavi. Khatami himself also did the same.
Two challengers from each of the country’s main political factions have so far taken up the challenge, Mousavi and Karrubi from the reformist front and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mohsen Rezai from the principlist camp.
Most analysts believe that like the 2004 presidential elections this time elections will go to a runoff.