July 22, 2004 - Some in the conservative faction of the Islamic regime support the possible candidacy of former foreign minister Dr. Ali-Akbar Velayati in next year’s presidential elections, according to the Persian news website Baztab. The so-called neo-conservatives, under the banner of Abadgaran, who won a decisive majority in last February’s Majles elections, support the candidacy of former radio-TV director Mohammad-Javad Larijiani and former labor minister Ahmad Tavakoli. Meanwhile, the conservative websites report that secretary of the supreme national security council Hasan Rowhani, the Islamic government’s key nuclear negotiator, has begun campaigning to receive the conservatives’ nomination. Rowhani’s brother Hossein Fereydoun has taken charge of his campaign headquarters.
