Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani registered for Iran’s June 14 election on Saturday minutes before the deadline, Iranian media reported, according to Reuters. A flurry of other heavyweight candidates also rushed to beat the registration deadline in the most unpredictable contest for decades. Rafsanjani’s candidacy radically alters what was previously seen as a contest between rival conservative groups. The former president could ruin the hopes of 'Principlists', loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who are aiming to secure a quick and painless transition. Rafsanjani, 78, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, is expected to draw some support from reformists because he backed the opposition movement whose protests were crushed after the last, disputed election in 2009.
