Iran council cleric says 'woman on ballot' not 'approved by law'

Iran's constitutional body, the Guardian Council, has ruled out women's participation in presidential elections as candidates.

The final list of candidates will be announced on Tuesday, with only few names expected on the ballot, the BBC News reports.

A clerical member of the Guardian Council Mohammad Yazdi has said that the constitution rules out any participation of women in elections, adding that a woman on the ballot is 'not allowed' as the 'law does not approve' of a woman in the presidency.

Thirty women have registered themselves as candidates but do not expect that they can figure as key members of the government or will even be allowed to turn up as election candidates.

Women candidates have sought an opportunity to contest the elections with 686 others as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not be able to rule for the third term under the constitution.

The 2009 elections witnessed only four candidates on the ballot although 475 hopeful candidates were looking forward to a position in the presidency, triggering mass street protests where Reformist candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had been detained and remain under house arrest, the report added.