Secretary of Iran’s elections headquarters and deputy Interior Minister Seyyed Sowlat Mortazavi said on Monday that the Interior Ministry would announce the names of the candidates on Wednesday, May 22.
Mortazavi added that Iran’s Guardian Council was to review the qualification of presidential hopefuls from May 12 to May 21.
The Guardian Council, a 12-member body, is tasked with vetting hopefuls for candidacy and confirming the election results.
A total of 686 hopefuls registered from May 7 to 11 for the presidential election.
Several of the hopefuls have dropped their bid for presidency over the past days. Iran’s former health minister Kamran Baqeri Lankarani, lawmaker Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard, former Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast and Davoud Ahmadinejad, the older brother of Iran’s incumbent president, are among those hopefuls.
The Iranian deputy Interior Minister also stated that the formal election campaign would begin at 8:00 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) on May 24 and would continue for 20 days.
The president of Iran is elected for a four-year term in a national election.
The Iranian Constitution stipulates that presidential candidates must be religious or political figures, be Iranian by origin, have Iranian citizenship, have managerial skills, have no criminal record, be trustworthy and pious, and have firm belief in the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the country’s official religion.