COMBO - This combination of eight pictures shows eight candidates approved Tuesday, May 21, 2013 for Iran's June 14 presidential election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run again because of term limits, clockwise from left: Mohammad Gharazi, Mohsen Rezaei, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Saeed Jalili, Ali Akbar Velayati, and Hasan Rowhani, taken between May 9 and May 11, 2013.
Iranian former parliament speaker, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel registers his candidacy for Iran's upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 10, 2013. Eight candidates won approval on May 21, 2013 to stand -- five conservatives close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as two moderate conservatives and a reformist, the ministry said in a statement.
A combo of pictures shows former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (L) arriving to register his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013 and the former Head of the Iran's presidential office, Esfandyar Rahim Mashaie, speaking during an interview with AFP in Tehran in October 2009. Both Rafsanjani and Mashaie, two of the principle candidates for Iran's June 14 presidential elections, have been barred from standing in the election, state television announced on May 21, 2013, citing the interior minister.
A picture taken on October 11, 2009 shows the former Head of the Iran's presidential office, Esfandyar Rahim Mashaie, speaking during an interview with AFP in Tehran. Iran's June 14 presidential election steps up a gear on May 21, 2013 as the list of candidates bidding to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is finalised, with at least two well-known figures already targeted for disqualification.
ALTERNATIVE CROP (FILES) A picture taken on May 11, 2013 shows former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani arriving to register his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran. Iran's June 14 presidential election steps up a gear on May 21, as the list of candidates bidding to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is finalised, with at least two well-known figures already targeted for disqualification.
This photo released on Monday, May 20, 2013 by the Iranian Defense Ministry purportedly shows a new air defense missile system, Herz-9 or Talisman-9 in Farsi, in an undisclosed location, in Iran. Iran says it has started mass producing a new sophisticated air defense missile system capable of engaging low-altitude aircraft. The country, facing a Western military embargo, is pursuing a program for military self-sufficiency, producing weapons ranging from light submarines and jet fighters to torpedoes and missiles. A flag hangs on the truck with Farsi writing that honors Fatima Zahra, daughter of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
