Two candidates in Iran’s upcoming June 14th election have dropped out of the race. The field is now down to six candidates, all of them hard-liners closely linked to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei. Former parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and Mohammad Reza Aref will no longer contend to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The latter candidate was considered a relative moderate in a field that had already been winnowed down by Iran’s Guardian Council from some 680 candidates to just eight.

The former – Haddad-Adel – indicated that his decision was made with eye toward boosting hard-liners:

Haddad-Adel, a close adviser and a relative by marriage of clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been a member of a coalition of conservative “Principlist” candidates that includedTehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati. “With my withdrawal I ask the dear people to strictly observe the criteria of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution (Khamenei) when they vote for candidates,” he said in a statement carried by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

He did not endorse a single candidate, but called for a hardline conservative victory. “I advise the dear people to take a correct decision so that either a Principlist wins in the first round, or if the election runs to a second round, the competition be between two Principlists.”

Of the candidates that are left, nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appear to be frontrunners. Jalili has long emphasized that Iran will not soften its negotiating stance regarding its nuclear program in the aftermath of the election, and all the candidates have taken hard-line stances on such talks.

Analysts emphasize, however, that no presidential candidate will have significant influence over Iran’s negotiations posture. Iran’s stance is dictated by the Supreme Leader:

However, although the NSC can formulate policy and plan a foreign policy stance, its decisions are only effective after confirmation by the supreme leader. “That’s why [Ahmadinejad and Khatami], in the last days of their presidency, said this position has no real authority. In other words, it’s all about being a handyman to the supreme leader,” said Tamaddon. … Although the president is an important figurehead at the forefront of Iran’s international dealings, “he’s not the decision-maker, and the only influential person behind foreign policy is the supreme leader. He must give the green light,” said Ajiri.

Last week Khamenei explicitly forbid the eventual election winner from making concessions to the West.

[Photo: cnn.com]