The first phase of Iran’s presidential elections got under way on Tuesday with candidates registration at the Interior Ministry in Tehran.The four-day registration process will be followed by committee deliberations to decide which candidates fulfil the necessary requirements and ideological criteria for the May 19 election.Report says a final list of candidates may take weeks to appear.The approved candidates would then launch their nationwide election campaigns on May 11.Observers expect a three-way race between reformist candidate President Hassan Rowhani, conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, and hardliner, Hamid Baghaei.The other candidates that have yet to be known stand only a slim chance.Over 55 million Iranians aged 18 or older are eligible to vote in the election. Prospective candidates will be vetted by the Guardians Council, a group of powerful conservative clerics that has a record of disqualifying liberal and pro-reform candidates as well as women. President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, is eligible to run for another term.
The five-day registration process of candidates begins for the elections to be held on 19 May.