Iran: Velayati not to run for Iran presidency (Updated)

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:10:28 GMT Prominent Iranian politician and former foreign minister Ali-Akbar Velayati says he will not run in the upcoming presidential elections.  "I am absolutely positive that I am not going to run in the next presidential elections," Velayati told ILNA news agency.  There had been speculation that Velayati, who served as Iran's foreign minister from 1981 until 1997, would seek election in the 2009 presidential race.  While there is also speculation that former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami will enter the race, so far the Secretary General of Iran's National Confidence Party, Mehdi Karroubi, is the only candidate to officially announce his bid.
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has also confirmed that he will not stand for election.  Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who ran in the ninth presidential election in 2005, may also be among those who challenge the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The Iranian constitution allows President Ahmadinejad to stand for another four-year term, but he has yet to confirm whether he will seek re-election.  HSH/AA. Original source at PressTV

  Reports about the health of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have stirred speculation about whether the controversial populist will run again for the country's highest elected office next June. In an interview published late Saturday by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, a close associate of Ahmadinejad said the president had fallen sick because of overwork and exhaustion. .... The exuberant and media-hungry Ahmadinejad, who turns 53 Monday, told a reporter in a report aired Sunday night on state television that he was not ill. "Exhaustion is possible, but no illness," he said in remarks reported by the Associated Press. Ahmadinejad missed several public appearances last week, though he appeared at several low-key events over the weekend. The absences have prompted whispers that Ahmadinejad is on his way out. But Kowsari and others close to Ahmadinejad have accused his critics of trying to use what they say is a routine illness for political advantage. Observers in Tehran cautioned against reading too much into news of the illness. Although Ahmadinejad is said to suffer from low blood pressure, there is no evidence that he has serious health problems or that he is being nudged out of his post by the country's religious leadership. But the episode shows how openly the knives are out for Ahmadinejad within Iran's ruling circle. On Saturday, parliament moved to impeach pro-Ahmadinejad Interior Minister Ali Kordan, who, according to Iran's Fars News Agency, admitted submitting a fake honorary Oxford law degree as evidence of his qualifications for the job. Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric and passion for public attention have made him a lightning rod for Western criticism of Iran's nuclear program and its staunch opposition to Israel. However, both policies remain under the purview of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the ranking cleric who is the country's ultimate authority on security and foreign policy.  A group of conservative politicians has joined with more a liberal faction known as reformists to criticize Ahmadinejad's economic policies and brash style as against Iran's interests. Iran's official inflation rate has risen to 29%. Its unemployment rate tops 10%, although independent experts say it is higher.
Ahmadinejad's allies have been walloped by the so-called pragmatic conservatives in recent local and parliamentary elections.  Some Iranians and Western diplomats have expressed hope that former President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate, will run against Ahmadinejad next year. Khatami's supporters say he will consider running for office only if Ahmadinejad does not stack the deck by doling out government cash to would-be voters.
Critics have accused the president of giving out low-interest loans and launching flashy public-works projects to curry favor with uneducated rural voters.