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Iranian reformist cleric announces presidency bid

TEHRAN: Iran’s former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi said he would stand as a reformist presidential candidate in a June poll hardline conservatives are tipped to win, media reported on Tuesday.

The mid-ranking, 68-year old cleric is the second reformist, following former higher education minister Mostafa Moin, to announce his intention to run in the June 17 elections, which are expected to mark the reform movement’s final defeat.

Liberal President Mohammad Khatami is ineligible to stand for a third term. His first two saw his popularity plummet as the conservative clerical establishment repeatedly frustrated his attempts at political, social and economic change. “I will not withdraw in favour of anyone, nor expect anyone to do so for me,” Karroubi was quoted as saying by the ISNA students news agency.

Karroubi is known as a compromising, moderate reformist who has mediated between the reform camp and conservative-dominated bodies such as the judiciary and the Guardian Council, a legislative watchdog. It is not clear whether the reformists will eventually agree on one candidate or risk splitting the vote between Karroubi and Moin.

Conservatives netted a massive majority in February’s parliamentary elections after the Guardian Council banned thousands of reformist candidates for not conforming with the Islamic Republic’s morals. Former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati and former head of state radio and television Ali Larijani, both hardline advisers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have announced their intentions to stand. Former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaie and hardline lawmaker Ahmad Tavakoli are also conservative candidates. reuters

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