TEHRAN – Abbasali Kadkhodaei, spokesman of the Guardian Council, said on Saturday that the council has defined the term “statesman” for presidential candidates, however the term gender and age still kept undefined, IRNA reported.

Under Article 115 of the Constitution, the president has to be selected from among “religious and political statesmen” who are Iranian by blood.

In recent years, a hotly debated issue has turned out to be whether women can run for presidency.

The authority to interpret the Constitution is vested in the Guardian Council. Interpretative decisions require a three-quarters majority.

MH/PA