Ahmadinejad, who had declared his presidential bid on April 12, was disqualified from running for presidency by the Guardian Council.
In a joint statement with his former deputy and ally Hamid Baqaei, Ahmadinejad clearly declared that neither him, nor Baqaei, will support any of the six candidates in May 19 presidential election.
He also appreciated his supporters who convinced him to run for the post, and wished success and health for the Iranian nation.
His statement came as a few months ago, the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had advised him against running for Iran’s presidency.
Following the advice, Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, saying he will not run, and even support anyone for the post, but he finally decided to support Baqaei and even run for the post personally.
Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim, Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, Es’haq Jahangiri, Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Ebrahim Raisi are the final six candidates who will compete in the upcoming presidential votes.
