Irans Interior Ministry has registered almost 600 candidates for the presidential election on June 18.
Out of a total of 592 candidates, 40 are women and 552 are men, the ministry announced on Sunday.
All candidates must now be examined and confirmed by the powerful Guardian Council.
The names of the presidential candidates are then to be published by the end of the month.
The list of the leading candidates includes almost 30 names, including Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, hardline head of the judiciary Ebrahim Raisi, and former parliament speaker and nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
Ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the reformer and former womens representative in the presidential office Sahra Shodzhaei, and Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the son of a former president, have also thrown their hats into the ring.
President Hassan Rowhani is not allowed to run again after two terms in office.(dpa/NAN)
Source: NAN News