TEHRAN-- The Guardian Council has approved the qualifications of four presidential candidates, allowing them to compete in the June 12 election, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The four presidential hopefuls are Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mohsen Rezaii, Mahdi Karroubi, and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
The candidates will officially begin their campaigns today by announcing their platforms, filming campaign ads for television, distributing leaflets, and putting up posters.
The campaign will run until June 11, one day before the election.
Incumbent President Ahmadinejad, who is seeking a second term, and Mohsen Rezaii, the secretary of the Expediency Council and a former IRGC commander, will be representing the principlist (conservative) camp in the presidential race, and former Majlis speaker Mahdi Karroubi and former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi will be representing the reformist camp.
Most political analysts believe that no candidate will gain the fifty percent of the vote required for victory in the first round of the election and that a second round runoff between the top two candidates will thus be necessary.
Political analysts, lawmakers, and even the man on the street say the main battle will be between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi and anticipate that they will face off against each other in the runoff.
However, many potential voters are still undecided and it is still unclear how large the turnout will be.
The television debates between the candidates themselves and their representatives will probably have a great influence on voters.
To woo voters, Karroubi and Ahmadinejad have promised to distribute oil revenues to the people.
Mousavi has promised to establish a job and business-friendly economy.
Rezaii has stated that he intends to create a revolution in the economy.
Karroubi, Mousavi, and Rezaii have all criticized Ahmadinejad for his handling of economic and monetary policy.
In the previous presidential elections, the candidates’ representatives held televised debates. However, this year, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Director Ezatollah Zarqami has vowed that televised debates will be held between the candidates, a move that has been welcomed by the people.
Zarqami said he made the proposal for live presidential debates in order to dispel any doubts that national television is biased in favor or against any particular candidate.
The IRIB director announced on Wednesday that he will present a plan to the Interior Ministry and the Guardian Council to make live presidential debates a permanent fixture for future elections. -