Iran's Interior Ministry announces final list of presidential candidates

 Iran’s Interior Ministry released late on Thursday the list of candidates qualified to run in the forthcoming presidential election.   Six hopefuls won the approving vote of Iran’s Guardian’s Council to officially pursue their presidential ambitions. The list of the qualified candidates was officially released by the election committee of Iran’s Interior Ministry late on Thursday.   The incumbent President Hassan Rouhani and his First VP Es’hagh Jahangiri are among the 6 names qualified.   The mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mostafa Aghamirsalim, former VP Seyyed Mostafa Hashemitaba, and the Chief Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, are the other names in the list.   Meanwhile, Spokesman of Iran’s Interior Ministry Seyyed Salman Samani announced that according to Article 66 of electoral regulations, candidates can start their official campaign from the moment the official list of the approved names is announced and they are permitted to run their campaigns till 8 in the morning on the day before the votes’ collection.