13/05/2013 22:20
Israelian: Velayati has greatest chance to become Iranian president
“The official registration of the presidential candidates ended in Iran last Saturday. Over 460 candidates have been registered to run in the elections, but only five of them have real chances to win,” Armen Israelian, an Orientalist specializing in Iran, told the correspondent of Aysor.am.
Speaking about the candidates who have a great chance of winning the election, Israelian mentioned the advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Akbar Velayati, the former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, as well as Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei who is an advisor to the current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Quite an interesting situation has formed in connection with the nomination of presidential candidates as Rafsanjani and Mashaei registered their candidacies at the last moment, “A. Israelian noted.
According to him, under the Iranian Constitution, following the official registration of the presidential candidates, the Guardian Council of the Constitution has yet to decide who of the candidates may participate in the further election race.
“If the Guardian Council of the Constitution does not confirm candidacies of Rafsanjani and Mashaei, then Ali Akbar Velayati and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will have the greatest chances of being elected,” the Orientalist said.
In his words, thus the struggle for Presidency will go between conservatives and reformers.
“If the Guardian Council does not confirm the candidacies of Rafsanjani and Mashaei, then the struggle will be waged between Velayati and Ghalibaf,” Armen Isrealian noted.
Asked if the election outcome may affect Armenian-Iranian relations, Israelian said that the election struggle has not yet begun and no statements about Armenia have been made by candidates yet, but to judge by the political pasts of Rafsanjani and Velayati, they are positively disposed toward Armenia.
“None of the current candidates made any anti-Armenian statements, and Armenian-Iranian relations will be related to Iran-Turkey and Iran-Azerbaijan relationships,” Israelian said.