Iran’s election supervisory body is vetting hopefuls for the upcoming presidential elections in June.

Iran’s election supervisory body is vetting hopefuls for the upcoming presidential elections in June.

Spokesman for Guardian Council Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said on Sunday that the supervisory body would try to finish vetting the hopefuls in five days’ time.

However, he added that the council may need another five days to vet the hopefuls if it cannot finish the job during the initial five-day period.

Under Iran’s election law, the Guardian Council is required to announce the list of vetted candidates within five days after the end of registration. This period can be extended another five days.

Kadkhodaei said any electoral offences would be reported to the country’s Judiciary and penalties imposed accordingly, adding that certain offences would also affect the vetting process.

The registration for the 11th presidential election of Iran ended on Saturday with 686 individuals having signed up for the race.

A number of Iranian officials have registered to join the race, including Chairman of Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Head of the Secretariat of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Esfandiyar Rahim-Mashaei, Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei and former First Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Aref.

Lawmakers Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and Alireza Zakani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili, former Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Vice-Speaker of Majlis Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard are also among the hopefuls.