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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's former influential president says he will run in elections for a clerical body that is in charge of choosing the country's supreme leader.
The pro-reform Shargh daily on Thursday quoted Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying, "God willing , I will come," to run in elections for the Assembly of Experts.
The 81-year-old Rafsanjani has close ties with moderate President Hassan Rouhani. His nomination will be a challenge to hardliners.
The assembly's election is scheduled to take place alongside parliamentary elections in February.
Under the law, the 86-member body would be responsible for choosing a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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