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Iran's four presidential candidates on Friday (May 22) started their campaigns to win a June 12 presidential vote after Iran's constitutional watchdog approved their candidacies on Wednesday (May 20).
Hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking a second term against challengers who criticise his handling of the economy and the nuclear issue.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds ultimate authority in Iran, but the presidential vote will influence the image and policies of the Islamic Republic, now weighing its response to U.S. President Barack Obama's diplomatic overtures.
The 12-man hardline Guardian Council has the power to vet candidates for nationwide elections in Iran.
The four candidates cleared by the Guardian Council were President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, backed by conservatives; former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, a moderate; former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karoubi, a reformist cleric; and Mohsen Rezaie, a former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The four candidates were approved after being screened for their allegiance to Iran's Islamic government system and "absolute obedience" to the country's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Over 450 hopefuls had registered, out of whom 42 were women. But no woman passed the test to stand in the election.
Reformists believe a high turnout would give them a better chance of winning the vote, but say state media have not given sufficient coverage to the election to mobilise Iranian voters.
One 35-year-old Tehran resident said he would vote for the former prime minister.
"I am voting for Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi, because he has a good performance during the eight years of our war (Iran-Iraq)," said Ibrahim Najiyan.
Candidates are allowed to campaign until 24 hours before the election starts.
One of Moussavi's supporters, Fatemeh Gholami, said:
"The best thing I know about him is that nobody died of hunger during the War (Iran-Iraq). The war that our enemy has been supported by the whole world and the prices had not been raised, even schools had not been closed."
Ahmadinejad delivered a speech to thousands of his youth supporters on Friday at a stadium in Tehran.
"We will never accept even one moment of kneeling down in front of the whole world bullies," Ahmadinejad told his chanting supporters.
Ahmadinejad's moderate rivals say his trips across Iran ahead of the authorised campaigning period which starts on June 10 is illegal and should be stopped. The government has refused to halt the trips. State radio and television deny being partial.
The president regularly rails against the West and vows a return to Islamic revolutionary values. Khamenei has urged Iranians to support anti-Western candidates.
Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 vowing to share out oil wealth more fairly but critics blame him for disappointing economic growth and high inflation. However, his promises of a fairer redistribution of income still resonate with the poor.
Some 46 million Iranians aged 18 years and older are eligible to vote in the polls, Iran's tenth presidential election since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The presidential term is four years. Incumbents can stand for a second term but must then step down for at least one term.
If no candidate wins at least 50 percent plus one vote of all ballots cast, including blank ones, a run-off round between the top two candidates is held on the first Friday after the election result is declared. A run-off vote took place in the 2005 presidential election, the first since 1979.