A conservative hopeful for Iran's presidential elections pulled out of the race today, but did not endorse any of the four other conservatives standing in the vote, media reports said.
Ex-parliamentary speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, seen close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not considered a frontrunner for the June 14 election.
"I announce my withdrawal from the presidential race to help promote the conservative victory," Haddad Adel said in a statement carried by local media.
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Haddad Adel had entered the race as part of a coalition along with Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and ex-foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati.
In addition to the conservatives, the poll on Friday -- Iran's first since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 -- will also include two moderate candidates and a reformist.
According to local media, negotiations are underway between moderate Hassan Rowhani and reformist Mohammad Reza Aref to join tickets.