In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mohsen Rezaii announced his presidential candidacy. Rezaii will run in the election as an independent, the statement said. He will hold a press conference soon to elaborate on his presidential plans. So far he is the second conservative politician who has announced candidacy after Ahmadinejad.

------------IRGC banned from siding with presidential candidates
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCC) is banned from taking side or campaigning in favor of a particular candidate in the run-up to the June presidential elections, cleric Ali Saedi, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the IRGC, has said.
“The Corps will not enter the forbidden areas. It will not interfere in the election and will not determine an example,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Mehr News Agency released on Wednesday.
“We have drawn up 15 principles as an agenda for the Corps …based on which any involvement in the election (activities) including displaying posters, campaigning for or against nominees, utilizing the facilities of the Corps are forbidden,” he explained.
-------------------- Cleric MPs to visit Qom
Salman Zaker stated on Wednesday that cleric MPs will travel to Qom to meet the members of Qom Seminary Teachers Society and the Society of Combatant Clergy. He said the meeting will focus on presidential election and working out a plan to establish necessary cooperation among clerics.
The cleric MP also noted that the Majlis clerical faction will officially announce the name of its favored presidential candidate soon.He told the Mehr News Agency that the faction will also meet President Ahmadinejad soon to discuss elections with him.
----------------------- Majlis Kurd faction to meet presidential hopefuls
Emad Hosseini stated on Wednesday that the Majlis Kurd faction will meet presidential candidates to offer some suggestions on how to meet the needs of the Kurdish populated regions.
Talking to reporters, he said that Kurds’ demands are legitimate and within the Constitution. He hoped that anyone who will take the helm as president to meet the demands of the Kurdish population.
------------------- Principlists will contest election with one candidate
Former Majlis speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel stated on Wednesday that principlists will contest the election with one candidate. There is no split among principlists, he told reporters in the Majlis.
-------------------- Followers society to name its candidate soon
Islamic Revolution Followers Society will officially announce its favored presidential candidate on Friday. The principlist society will hold a meeting on Friday to decide on final candidate.
--------------------------- Mousavi more capable than Karroubi
Abdollah Kabi stated Wednesday that presidential hopeful Mousavi is more capable than Karroubi as he had served as country’s prime minister in the early years of the Islamic Revolution. The Majlis minority faction member said Mousavi and Karroubi are both skillful but Mousavi has left more records in top managerial posts.
He also told the Fars News Agency that Mousavi’s meetings with different reformist political groups don’t mean that they would support him. He added that the support of different groups for Mousavi also doesn’t mean that he has tendency towards them.
----------------------- Society of employees backs Ahmadinejad
The Islamic Society of Employees (ISE) expresses support for Ahmadinejad in the presidential race. In a statement released on Wednesday the ISE announced that it decided to support Ahmadinejad after an examination of the country’s condition.
----------------------- 90% of Majlis principlist faction backs Ahmadinejad
MP Rouhollah Hosseinian stated on Wednesday that about 90 percent of the Majlis principlist faction favor Ahmadinejad’s candidacy.

------------------------ Mousavi: Country needs strong parties
Mousavi said that the country needs powerful parties which can play an effective role in the country. He said people and parties should be able to declare their views on different issues. He also noted that parties should act within a legal framework.