Ahmadinejad's challengers for Iranian presidency unveiled
Iran's guardian council releases names of four men cleared to contest presidential poll, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
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Wednesday, 20, May 2009 11:58
The three men who will contest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bid for a second term as president of Iran have been revealed.
Iran's electoral council has released the four approved candidates for the country's presidential poll on June 12th.
Along with Mr Ahmadinejad, former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, ex-parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi and Mohsen Rezai, who previously led the Revolutionary Guards, were all approved to stand.
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, presidential candidates have been approved by the council on the basis of their "absolute obedience" to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and allegiance to the country's Islamic form of government.
More than 450 candidates had applied to the guardian council to be candidates, including 42 women.
Mr Ahmadinejad is said to be facing a strong challenge to his presidency over the country's faltering economy and his confrontational foreign policy.
Iranians, 46 million of which are eligible to vote, go to the polls on June 12th, with results being announced a day later.
The elections come at a crucial time for stability in the region, with Barack Obama due to deliver his long-awaited address to the Muslim world in Cairo on June 4th, three days before elections in Lebanon.