Iran Breaking: Khatami "Happy" for Rafsanjani to Join Presidential Race

Hashemi RafsanjaniFormer President Mohammad Khatami told journalists on Tuesday that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is "probably" running in the June presidential election. Khatami said he would be happy for Rafsanjani to run, if the Supreme Leader agreed, and that if he did so it would be a "victory for everyone".

According to comments posted on Khatami's website, the former President said: "I was pleased yesterday when Mr. Hashemi said he was prepared to run, if the Supreme Leader does not oppose it. It's correct that if the Supreme Leader does not want someone to run, that would cause a problem, and I say why would the Supreme Leader oppose it?"

Calling on all people to participate in the elections, Khatami praised Rafsanjani and added that he would be pleased if he ran in the elections: "I am sure he is an excellent manager for the country."

Iran Today: The Presidential Campaign Formally Opens

Economy Watch: Private Parliament-Government Meeting on Inflation

Tabnak reports that MPs and Government officials have had a private meeting today, discussing how to control the price of some necessary goods.

Rafsanjani Watch: Pro-Ahmadinejad MP Blasts Former President

MP Ruhollah Hosseinian, a long-time supporter of President Ahmadinejad, announced that up to 90 legislators have written to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, asked him to explain a speech last week which criticised the Government and put forward a number of foreign policy statements.

In the address to clerics, scholars, and students, Rafsanjani, "We are not in war with Israel." He also indicated that he might be ready to run in June's Presidential election.

Hussainian said he is trying to get more MPs to sign the letter. He asserted, "If Rafsanjani wants to participate in the election, he should explain these statements first."

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Iran Today: Israel to Receive "Crushing Response"

Supreme Leader Watch

In a meeting with officials running elections, the Supreme Leader has declared that "no one has been able and no one will be able to postpone" June's Presidential ballot.

Ahmadinejad Watch

President Ahmadinejad, speaking in Urmia, has tried to define the Supreme Leader's declared "Year of Political and Economic Epic", while jabbing at his rivals: "Epic means destroying idolatry, putting things in the right place. All depends on one's will, not weapons and bank accounts."

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Iran Today: Regime Attacks Rafsanjani as "Leader of Sedition"

Election Watch: Teachers Urge Rafsanjani to Run.

An assembly of reformist-aligned teachers and researchers has issued a statement condemning recent “insults” of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami and urged the two former presidents to accept the invitation of the people and run for office in June’s election.

Economy Watch: Ahmadinejad Under Fire.

President Ahmadinejad has come under more criticism today, this time by Grand Ayatollah Musavi Aradabilli who told a meeting of labour leaders that if the government follows the same policies as the present one, the country’s economic condition will only worsen.

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Iran Today: Promoting Ahmadinejad and His Man for President

Ahmadinejad Watch --- MPs and Revolutionary Guards Slam President

Ahead of the formal declarations of candidates for June;s Presidential election, prominent figures have spoken out against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his close aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

Conservative MP Ali Motahari slammed Ahmadinejad, calling him a "spoilt child".

In a direct dig at the President and an indirect jibe at the Supreme Leader, Motahari --- a brother-in-law of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani --- said that the current crisis in Iran is due both to of Ahmadinejad’s mismanagement and attitude and to the support that he had from "elders".

Motahari has previously tried to summon Ahmadinejad to Parliament to face questioning and possible impeachment.

Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's deputy representative to the Revolutionary Guards, has said Ahmadinejad has no power to create problems in the upcoming Presidential elections.

Zolnour said that even if the Guardian Council approves Ahmadinejad's man Rahim-Mashai, he will not get any votes.

Hojatoleslam Mehdi Taeb, the head of the Ammar Strategic Base --- an organization established to fight the so-called “soft war” against Iran --- also spoke out against Ahmadinejad's policies.

Taeb said that last year he warned Ahmadinejad to stay away from Rahim-Mashai, who would disgrace him.

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Iran Today: A Presidential Field Out of Control?

See also Iran Exclusive: Rafsanjani Prepares for a Presidential Campaign...and a Challenge to the Supreme Leader
Tuesday's Iran Today: Rafsanjani "Might Run For President"

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Rafsanjani Watch

Another twist in the "Will he run? Won't he run?" story of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani....

Rafsanjani ally Hassan Rohani, who is also a Presidential hopeful, has declared, “Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani] will definitely not be a candidate in the upcoming election."

Rohani, who is an official with the Expediency Council that Rafsanjani chairs, has been considered the choice of the former President's camp. However, in the last week Rafsanjani has indicated --- see separate EA Exclusive --- that he might stand.

Rohani also dismissed speculation that he might quit the race in favor of Rafsanjani.

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Iran Exclusive: Rafsanjani Prepares for a Presidential Campaign...and a Challenge to the Supreme Leader

In recent days, we have been tracking the indications that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani --- reversing his position from March --- will stand in the Presidential election in June.

Now we can confirm, on the basis of absolutely reliable information, that Rafsanjani is close to a campaign.

What's more, he and his supporters are doing so in part as a challenge to the Supreme Leader. Further, others see the campaign as support for detained opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, the main challenge to President Ahmadinejad in the disputed election in 2009.

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Iran Today: Rafsanjani "Might Run For President"

Hashemi RafsanjaniAhmadinejad Watch

General Hassan Firouzabadi, the head of armed forces, has jabbed at President Ahmadinejad.

Firouzabadi said the President is an executive, not the Leader and jibed that political legitimacy is not based on the more than 20 million votes that Ahmadinejad claimed in the 2009 election.

Economy Watch

Yahya Al-Eshagh, Presidential hopeful and the head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, has said that production in the Islamic Republic is "near zero".

Al-Eshagh called for better management and a change of foreign policy.

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Iran Today: Rafsanjani Running for President?

Political Prisoner Watch

Iranian bloggers are highlighting the case of Elham Ruzbehi, a member of the Baha'i community, who reported to Semnan Prison with her baby on Saturday to begin serving a two-year sentence.

Ruzbehi is the fourth Bahai mother detained with her baby. She was arrested, with several other Baha'is, on 12 March 2011. Pregnant at the time, she was freed on bail one month later.

Rafsanjani Says He May Run for President

In a notable shift on Sunday, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani said he may run for the office in June's election.

For weeks Rafsanjani --- under pressure since the disputed 2009 elections, with the loss of positions and the imprisonment of his chldren, but still a key figure in Iranian politics --- had ruled out a campaign. His camp appeared to be backing long-time ally Hassan Rohani, former nuclear negotiator and senior official with the Expediency Council that is headed by Rafsanjani.

Last week, however, an EA correspondent evaluated reports of the former President saying he might be involved in June's ballot:

[These are] to test the waters and see the extent to which there is animosity to a Rafsanjani candidacy. I guess that Rafs is under a lot of pressure to run, and is probably making sure that [former President Mohammad] Khatami does not run and Rohani backs down before committing.

Sunday's news conference bears out that assessment, with Rafsanjani saying that he would form a multi-party cabinet if elected and that he will reform domestic and foreign policies.

Iran Live: Uncertainty over the Presidential Election

The Supreme Leader's "2+1 Committee" --- failing to establish a unity candidate for June's election?

See also Iran Caption Competition: Ahmadinejad Dresses Up in Africa
Saturday's Iran Live: An Ahmadinejad Election Comeback?

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1555 GMT: Election Watch

Mehr posts a series of pictures of a de facto election rally by President Ahmadinejad and his would-be successor, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, in Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad criticised those "who want to decide for people" and indicated that support payments, covering the cost of his subsidy cuts, could be increased by five times.

Mehr:also claims that Ahmadinejad is planning a meeting with 85 bloggers and an "Epic of Presence" rally for women and youth.

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