TEHRAN, Jan 1: The date for Iran's presidential elections has been fixed for Friday June 17, state media reported on Saturday. The date was approved by the Guardians Council.

The Council had rejected earlier proposals from the interior ministry for the vote to be held in mid-May.

Several prominent conservative politicians have already entered the race to replace incumbent reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who has served two consecutive terms as president and is barred by the constitution from standing again.

Long-serving former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, now a top advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has announced he intends to stand, as has Mohsen Rezai, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards and Ali Larijani, the longtime boss of Iran's state broadcast media.

Iran top national security official and nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani has confirmed he was considering joining the fast growing list of candidates, while influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has also been openly mulling participation but has yet to declare his intentions.

On the reformist side, former higher education minister Mostafa Moin has been nominated as the candidate of the Islamic republic's main reform party,while incumbent Vice President Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh has also stepped in.-AFP