At the order of Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, registration of candidates in the 12th Presidential Elections of Iran began on Tuesday morning with the finishing date being four days later on April 15.

Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Hossein Zolfaghari also made presence at the Presidential election headquarters and told reporters that security in elections was Iran’s redline; “any party and movement seeking to undermine security of the elections will be strongly confronted with.”

The qualified candidates will be announced after the Guardian Council gives a final list to the Ministry April 27-28.

Campaign trail would kick off on April 28 lasting for 20 days until May 17 since it would not be legal a day before Election Day on May 19.

HA/3950045 </s> The first phase of Iran’s presidential elections got under way on Tuesday with candidates registration at the Interior Ministry in Tehran.The four-day registration process will be followed by committee deliberations to decide which candidates fulfil the necessary requirements and ideological criteria for the May 19 election.Report says a final list of candidates may take weeks to appear.The approved candidates would then launch their nationwide election campaigns on May 11.Observers expect a three-way race between reformist candidate President Hassan Rowhani, conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, and hardliner, Hamid Baghaei.The other candidates that have yet to be known stand only a slim chance.Over 55 million Iranians aged 18 or older are eligible to vote in the election. (dpa/NAN) </s> Registration for Iranians hoping to run in Iran’s May 19 presidential election opened in Tehran on April 11.

The registration process will remain open for five days.

Prospective candidates will be vetted by the Guardians Council, a group of powerful conservative clerics that has a record of disqualifying liberal and pro-reform candidates as well as women.

Iran’s official government news agency IRNA reports that the list of approved candidates will be issued by the Interior Ministry on April 26 and 27.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani is expected to seek a second term.

Rohani defended his policies at a Tehran press conference on April 10, a day before the registration period began.

A former culture minister and a former political prisoner were among those who registered on April 11. </s> Tehran: More than 1,600 candidates have registered to run for Iranian presidency as the registration for May 19 presidential election closed on Saturday.

Tehran's Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and first Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri also registered on Saturday for the election.

Addressing reporters after his registration, the principlist Qalibaf challenged as "unrealistic" the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani's remarks about his administration's acceptable economic performance over the past four years, Xinhua news agency cited Press TV.

Jahangiri said unity is needed to overcome challenges, citing unemployment as among the country's main problems.

The most high-profile candidates running for the top post are President Hassan Rouhani, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.

The Iranian Guardian Council of Constitution, a clerical body that oversees elections, will start to assess the qualification of the applicants from Sunday and will announce an approved list by April 27.

A candidate should basically be an Iranian national, prudent and capable of taking on leadership duties, and should a believer and committed to the Islamic Republic of Iran's fundamentals and also official religion of the country.

According to Iran's Interior Ministry, the approved candidates will launch their presidential campaign on April 28. </s> Tolo News: Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Tuesday afternoon announced it has set the date for presidential elections for next year. The IEC said these elections will be held on April 20, six months after the October parliamentary and district council elections. Click here to read more (external link).
• Govt Must Do More To Ensure Fair Elections: Political Parties </s> Baku. 31 July. REPORT.AZ / Independent electoral commission has announced that the presidential elections in Afghanistan will be held on April 20, 2019, Report informs citing the RIA Novosti.

Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan will be held in October. In April, President Ashraf Ghani announced the start of the registration of citizens for participation in the parliamentary and local elections.

Notably, President in Afghanistan is elected on the basis of universal, secret and direct voting for a period of 5 years. The president can be re-elected for a second term. </s> More than 1,600 candidates have filed to run in the Iranian presidential election as the official registration period ended on April 15. Among the last-minute entrants for the May 19 election was 55-year-old Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who arrived at the Interior Ministry just before the deadline. First Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri, 60, also was a late entrant.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Weekday Magazine. </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has opened registration for those hoping to run in the May 19 presidential race.

The official IRNA news agency said Tuesday that prospective candidates can register through the end of Saturday. They will then be vetted by the Guardian Council, a clerical body that will announce a final list of candidates by April 27.

President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, is eligible to run for another term. Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hamid Baghaei, a close ally of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have announced plans to run.

The election is expected to serve as a referendum on the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, under which Iran agreed to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. </s> Afghanistan sets April 20 as date for next presidential election

KABUL: Afghanistan Wednesday announced April 20 next year as the date for its presidential election, amid concerns that growing insurgent violence could threaten the poll.

The vote will take place six months after parliamentary elections, which have been scheduled for October 20 after repeated delays.Current President Ashraf Ghani is widely expected to stand for another five-year term.

The date was announced by Abdul Badi Sayad, chairman of the Independent Election Commission, who said security and other factors had been taken into account.The commission says nine million voters, including three million women, have registered since the electoral rolls opened in April despite attacks on voter registration centres.

Security remains a major concern ahead of the polls, with the Western-backed government struggling against an insurgency by the resurgent Taliban and, increasingly, the Islamic State group.

“Security is an issue that we hope will be solved by then,” said election commission spokesman Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi. He responded to concerns of voter fraud by saying the commission was “committed to ensuring the transparency and integrity of both parliamentary and presidential elections”.The last presidential election in 2014 was marred by allegations of massive fraud and vote-rigging.
The five-day registration process of candidates begins for the elections to be held on 19 May.