Tehran:
Iranians will go to polls on Friday to elect a new president among eight candidates who have been cleared by a vetting body.
Of the eight five are conservatives, two moderates and one reformist.
Below are their short profiles:
Saeed Jalili
Jalili, 47, a frontrunner in the election race, is seen as close to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the final say on all national issues. Jalili, however, lacks executive experience.
As Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, he is known for his tough stand in talks between Iran and world powers on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme, which the West suspects is masking a weapons capability -- a claim denied by the Islamic republic.
The soft-spoken but with a rigid, religious persona, Jalili hopes to rally the country's traditional voters based on his unwavering loyalty to Khamenei.
Born in the holy city of Mashhad in northeast Iran in 1965, Jalili is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s in which he lost the lower part of his right leg.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf
Qalibaf, 51, is considered another leading candidate for the conservatives. He is running for Iran's highest elected office on a vow to repair its ailing economy in "two years".
His record as a national police chief and Tehran mayor, coupled with his loyalty to Khamenei, has led to his political stock rising in recent years. He has often criticised incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration.
Ali Akbar Velayati
Velayati, 67, is a key conservative politician and veteran diplomat, who has served as an international affairs adviser to Khamenei since August 1997.
He has promised to repair "the damage and ruin" left by Ahmadinejad "in two- or three years time" by mending foreign relations, which he says will improve Iran's situation, especially its economy.
He has criticised Jalili's tactics in nuclear talks with world powers.
Mohsen Rezai
Rezai, 58, is a critic of Ahmadinejad's "mismanagement" of the economy and has vowed, if elected, to curb inflation and unemployment. He holds a PhD in economics.
He is best known for his 16 years as head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, and he lost to Ahmadinejad in 2009 election.
Gholamali Haddad Adel
Fellow conservative and former parliament speaker Haddad Adel, 68, is a loyal defender of Khamenei, whom he serves as a senior adviser. He is the father-in-law of Khamenei's third son.
Haddad Adel has been an MP since 2000. Earlier, he held posts at the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance and the education ministry.
Hassan Rowhani
Rowhani, 64, is a religious moderate and the only cleric contesting the election. He was Iran's nuclear negotiator under reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
Rowhani has vowed to restore diplomatic ties with arch-foe the United States, which cut relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by Islamist students.
Rowhani is expected to attract votes from some moderates and reformist supporters of ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was barred from running for office.
Mohammad Gharazi
Gharazi, 72, is the oldest candidate and the least known. He was a minister under Rafsanjani as well as under opposition leader and ex-prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is currently under house arrest.
Gharazi says he will not campaign for election, arguing that his executive experience in the regime is enough to run the country as president. His slogan is to form an "anti-inflation" government.
Reformists in the Islamic regime, who have been significantly marginalised since the turbulent 2009 election, will have only one candidate in the ballot:
Mohammad Reza Aref
For reformists who have been significantly marginalised since the 2009 election, Aref, 61, is the sole candidate. Aref was a first vice president under Khatami. He is a US graduate and holds a PhD in telecommunications.
He is running on a promise to boost economic growth, severely handicapped in recent years, and assurance of curbing the inflation. Aref has also spoken of establishing better relations with the international community.
Of the eight five are conservatives, two moderates and one reformist.
Below are their short profiles:
Saeed Jalili
Jalili, 47, a frontrunner in the election race, is seen as close to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the final say on all national issues. Jalili, however, lacks executive experience.
As Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, he is known for his tough stand in talks between Iran and world powers on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme, which the West suspects is masking a weapons capability -- a claim denied by the Islamic republic.
The soft-spoken but with a rigid, religious persona, Jalili hopes to rally the country's traditional voters based on his unwavering loyalty to Khamenei.
Born in the holy city of Mashhad in northeast Iran in 1965, Jalili is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s in which he lost the lower part of his right leg.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf
Qalibaf, 51, is considered another leading candidate for the conservatives. He is running for Iran's highest elected office on a vow to repair its ailing economy in "two years".
His record as a national police chief and Tehran mayor, coupled with his loyalty to Khamenei, has led to his political stock rising in recent years. He has often criticised incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration.
Ali Akbar Velayati
Velayati, 67, is a key conservative politician and veteran diplomat, who has served as an international affairs adviser to Khamenei since August 1997.
He has promised to repair "the damage and ruin" left by Ahmadinejad "in two- or three years time" by mending foreign relations, which he says will improve Iran's situation, especially its economy.
He has criticised Jalili's tactics in nuclear talks with world powers.
Mohsen Rezai
Rezai, 58, is a critic of Ahmadinejad's "mismanagement" of the economy and has vowed, if elected, to curb inflation and unemployment. He holds a PhD in economics.
He is best known for his 16 years as head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, and he lost to Ahmadinejad in 2009 election.
Gholamali Haddad Adel
Fellow conservative and former parliament speaker Haddad Adel, 68, is a loyal defender of Khamenei, whom he serves as a senior adviser. He is the father-in-law of Khamenei's third son.
Haddad Adel has been an MP since 2000. Earlier, he held posts at the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance and the education ministry.
Hassan Rowhani
Rowhani, 64, is a religious moderate and the only cleric contesting the election. He was Iran's nuclear negotiator under reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
Rowhani has vowed to restore diplomatic ties with arch-foe the United States, which cut relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by Islamist students.
Rowhani is expected to attract votes from some moderates and reformist supporters of ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was barred from running for office.
Mohammad Gharazi
Gharazi, 72, is the oldest candidate and the least known. He was a minister under Rafsanjani as well as under opposition leader and ex-prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is currently under house arrest.
Gharazi says he will not campaign for election, arguing that his executive experience in the regime is enough to run the country as president. His slogan is to form an "anti-inflation" government.
Reformists in the Islamic regime, who have been significantly marginalised since the turbulent 2009 election, will have only one candidate in the ballot:
Mohammad Reza Aref
For reformists who have been significantly marginalised since the 2009 election, Aref, 61, is the sole candidate. Aref was a first vice president under Khatami. He is a US graduate and holds a PhD in telecommunications.
He is running on a promise to boost economic growth, severely handicapped in recent years, and assurance of curbing the inflation. Aref has also spoken of establishing better relations with the international community.
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