Only pro-Khamenei’s hard liners survive presidential field

Iran’s Guardian Council granted Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei his dream list of runners for the Jun 14 presidential election. It is headed by two hardliners, nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalilee and close adviser Ali Akbar Velayati. Culled from the field were the two opposition figures capable of challenging Khamenei on nuclear and foreign affairs – former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Estander Rahim Mashaei, ally of the outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

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