Legal time for the candidates of the upcoming presidential election and the Fifth Islamic City and Village Councils finished on Thursday at eight a.m.
According to the law, the electoral campaign in all its forms, started on April 20, for the candidates must finish twenty-four hours before the beginning of the election process.
The election begins tomorrow (Friday) at eight in the morning in about 64 thousand polling stations.
Iran’s Guardian Council approved six candidates to run for the May 19 presidential election on April 20. Two of the candidates quitted the presidential race in favor of two other candidates.
The first six qualified candidates based on a press release of Iran’s Interior Ministry included Ebrahim Raeisi, Custodian of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashad; First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri; former minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mostafa Aqa Mirsalim; former Minister of Physical Education Mostafa Hashemi Taba, President Hassan Rouhani and Mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
However, Qalibaf, a conservative candidate, officially announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on Wednesday in a letter to the Interior Ministry saying he quitted the elections in favor of Raeisi. He asked his supporters to vote for the 56-year-old principlist candidate.
Another candidate, Jahangiri, announced a few days ago in a statement that he quitted the presidential race and would support Rouhani on May 19 elections. He also asked his supporters to vote for Rouhani.
A third candidate, Hashemi Taba, said in a statement that he would vote for rouhani on May 19 but he has not announced his withdrawal officially to the Interior Ministry yet.
Source: Iranian media
