Iranian cleric Mehdi Karroubi Iranian cleric Mehdi Karroubi speaks at a press conference on 12 October 2008 in Tehran , Iran . Karroubi was the first candidate to officially declare his nomination for next June ' s presidential elections to challenge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . The 71 - year - old cleric is head of the moderate opposition party Etemad Melli ( National Trust ) and the party ' s choice run in the June 12 elections . Karroubi is a strong opponent of Ahmadinejad and even criticized the president � s denial of the Holocaust in the Second World War saying that ' Iran has so far paid a heavy price for Ahmadinejad � s Holocaust remarks and gained absolutely nothing in return . ' He added that Iran should care about Palestine and Palestinians and how to help them and not argue about the number of the Jewish victims in the Second World War . EPA / ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH < 긴급 속보 SMS 신청 > < 포토 매거진 > < 스포츠 뉴스 는 M - SPORTS >< 저작권자 ( c ) 연합뉴스 . 무단 전재 - 재배 포금 지 . >