For five days Iran's interior ministry opened its doors to the people, inviting presidential hopefuls to register for the election on June 14th. The fingerprints of the candidates, most of them establishment figures, were stamped on forms, while would-be reformists stayed away. But minutes before the deadline, on May 12th, a former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (pictured above), arrived in a Mercedes to register his intention to run. The 78-year-old cleric, labelled by some as "the shark" for his cunning, has long cast himself as moderate and pragmatic-and in economics a liberal. He pledged a government of unity with "compassionate leaders" and "experienced managers"-a dig at the factional and populist policies of the outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahma-dinejad. In any event, Mr Rafsanjani's last-minute candidacy, if accepted, would give the contest a dramatic new twist.
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