TEHRAN - Abbas Ali Kadkhodaee, the spokesperson for Iran’s Guardian Council, confirmed on Saturday that persons with military background are entitled to run in elections, saying the performance of the oversight council shows this in the previous rounds of elections.

“There has been no legal ban for persons with military background in different (election) rounds,” Kadkhodaee told a press conference.

“Mere nomination in elections is not legally banned,” he added.

The spokesman was openly referring to some former military figures like Mohsen Rezaee, the former IRGC chief, who ran for president more than once. Also, Mohammad Esmaeil Kowsari, a former IRGC official, was elected to the eighth and ninth parliaments (2008-2016).

However, Kadkhodaee said, support for a political faction or party in elections by military personnel is definitely banned.

The next presidential election in Iran will be held in June simultaneously with council elections.

Candidates hoping to run in the elections are to apply in early April for approval. The competence of candidates must be confirmed the oversight Guardian Council.

So far, two military figures have expressed readiness to run for the president. General Hossein Dehghan, a former Islamic Revolution Guard Corps commander and defense minister, who now servs as a military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, has announced he will run for the presidential post.  Also, Saeed Mohammad, who headed the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, has resigned to run in the presidential elections. 

EE/PA