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| Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to stand for Iran presidency | Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to stand for Iran presidency |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Iranian ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has registered for June's presidential election, a few minutes before an official deadline. | |
| Correspondents say Mr Rafsanjani, 78, is virtually assured the support of reformers and could pose a real challenge to the country's conservative leadership. | |
| Constitutionally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot stand again. | Constitutionally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot stand again. |
| But his choice of candidate registered minutes before Mr Rafsanjani. | But his choice of candidate registered minutes before Mr Rafsanjani. |
| Hardline nationalist Esfandyar Rahim-Mashaei, a close friend of Mr Ahmadinjed, is also seen as a threat to the clerical elite around Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. | |
| Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, has also registered. He is seen as close to Ayatollah Khamenei. | |
| More than 400 candidates in total have registered but Iran's Guardian Council - a body controlled by the supreme leader - decides who can stand. | |
| The results of the last presidential elections, in 2009, were disputed by the reformist opposition, triggering mass street protests. | |
| Seen as a moderate, Mr Rafsanjani is expected to gain support from reformers after supporting the protests. | |
| Opinion polls suggest he is currently the most popular of the candidates. | |
| 'Lack of trust' | |
| The former president put his name forward in the last half hour before nominations closed. | |
| His aides said he was waiting to see whether Iran's supreme leader would have any objections to his running as a candidate. | |
| "I came to serve. It is the right of the people to choose me or not," Iranian media quoted him as saying as he registered. | |
| Mr Rafsanjani has said in the past that in his view Ayatollah Khamenei, his long-time comrade, no longer trusts him. | |
| He has also said he does not want a set-up where the two top figures in the Islamic republic are at odds with each other. | |
| But BBC Persian TV's Kasra Naji says he feels the country is going through a serious crisis and that he can help steer Iran to calmer waters. | |
| Mr Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997, also led the Expediency Council, a political arbitration body, and was parliamentary speaker. |