Reports: Iran bars 2 top figures from June ballot
Iranian news websites boosted speculation Tuesday that election overseers have barred two prominent but divisive figures from next month's presidential ballot, in a move that would eliminate a threat to the country's hard-liners.
The Tasnimnews.com website said the Guardian Council, which vets candidates, has rejected former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close confidant of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The semiofficial Mehr news agency carried the same report. (AP)
