Iran short-lists election candidates

摘要

Iran’s guardian council — the body that vets election candidates — on 22 May selected a short list of eight names from the 686 people that registered to stand in the forthcoming presidential poll. The disqualification of former two- time president Akbar Hashemi Rafsan- jani and President Mahmoud Ahmadine- jad’s close aide and chief of staff Esfan- diar Rahim Mashaei — the two most talked about and polarising candidates — may have taken away some of the spark from the contest (WPA, 17 May, p3). But the remaining candidates, who represent the two main rival political camps in Iranian politics, will still have plenty of policy differences to fight over.