Top figures may be barred from Iran's June ballot

World News

In this picture taken on Saturday, May 11, 2013, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani waves to media as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, while his daughter Fatemeh, right, looks on, at the election headquarters of the interior ministry in Tehran, Iran. A hardline news website says Iran's election overseers have rejected a pair of powerful and divisive figures from running in next month's presidential election. Tasnimnews.com say Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who still wields enormous influence, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close confident of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been barred by the Guardian Council. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

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Top figures may ... In this picture taken on Saturday, May 11, 2013, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani waves to media as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, while his daughter Fatemeh, right, looks on, at the election headquarters of the interior ministry in Tehran, Iran. A hardline news website says Iran's election overseers have rejected a pair of powerful and divisive figures from running in next month's presidential election. Tasnimnews.com say Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who still wields enormous influence, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close confident of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been barred by the Guardian Council. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
SAfrican court a... Carl Pistorius, brother of Oscar Pistorius, the superstar double-amputee Olympic athlete who shot and killed his girlfriend and is accused of murder, stands inside the court for his culpable homicide case at the Magistrate Court in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Syrian, Hezbolla... This citizen journalism image provided by Qusair Lens, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian man checking his destroyed house that was damaged by a Syrian forces air strike in the town of Qusair, near the Lebanon border, Homs province, Syria, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. Several members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group died of wounds sustained while fighting for control of a strategic Syrian town near the Lebanese border, activists said Tuesday, as the battle in the area raged for its third straight day. (AP Photo/Qusair Lens)
The pope and the... In this image made from video provided by APTN, Pope Francis lays his hands on the head of a young man on Sunday, May 19, 2013, after celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square. The young man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, convulsed and shook, and then slumped in his wheelchair as Francis prayed over him. The television station of the Italian bishops’ conference said it had surveyed exorcists, who agreed Francis either performed an exorcism or a prayer to free the man from the devil. The Vatican was more cautious Tuesday, saying Francis “didn’t intend to perform any exorcism. But as he often does for the sick or suffering, he simply intended to pray for someone.” (AP Photo/APTN)
Egyptian troops ... An Egyptian Army vehicle with a tank heads to the closed Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza strip, in Sheikh Zuweyid, northern Sinai, Egypt, Monday, May 20, 2013. Security officials said 17 military and more than 20 police armored vehicles were deployed in northern Sinai Monday as a response to the kidnapping by suspected militants of six policemen and a border guard there last Thursday. It was not clear if they deployed to rescue the hostages, to make a show of force to intimidate their captors, or for another reason. (AP Photo/Roger Anis, El Shorouk Newspaper) EGYPT OUT
Suicide at Notre... Police officers stand guard in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. Notre Dame has been evacuated after a man committed suicide in the 850-year-old monument and tourist attraction. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Does France have... FOR STORY SLUGGED FRANCE SHRINKING ECONOMY - FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, French Minister for Industrial Recovery Arnaud Montebourg delivers a speech after meeting workers and trade union representatives of ArcelorMittal, in Florange, northeast France. The 50-year old lawyer Montebourg, is the man charged with reviving France's shrinking economy and attracting businesses to invest in the country, but according to some analysts he is fast gaining a reputation for doing the opposite, as public spats with international companies, and efforts to block employee layoffs are being seen as the epitome of what is wrong with the French economy. (AP Photo/Mathieu Cugnot, File)
Guatemala top co... FILE - In this Friday, May 10, 2013 file photo, Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt wears headphones as he listens to the verdict in his genocide trial in Guatemala City. Guatemala's top court has overturned the genocide conviction of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt's and ordered his trial to resume. Constitutional Court secretary Martin Guzman says the trial needs to go back to where it stood on April 19 to solve several appeal issues. Monday's ruling comes 10 days after a three-judge panel convicted the 86-year-old Rios Montt of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in massacres of Mayas during Guatemala's civil war. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
Obama vows US su... President Barack Obama gestures toward Myanmar's President Thein Sein during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, May 20, 2013. Thein Sein is the first Myanmar president to be welcomed to the White House in almost 47 years. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Syrian troops pu... This citizen journalism image provided by Qusair Lens which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian rebels preparing to repel a coordinated attack by government forces, in Qusair, Homs province, Syria, Sunday, May 19, 2013. Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed tens of people and forced residents to scramble for cover in basements and makeshift bunkers, activists said. (AP Photo/Qusair Lens)
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Caribbean talks ... A statue decorates the pool area of Richard Branson's property on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, Friday, May 17, 2013. Political and business leaders gathered here Friday to back an initiative aimed at expanding protection for the Caribbean's imperiled coasts and waters. Delegations from the participating governments signed a communique pledging to establish a framework for a regional approach to coastal conservation, including “increasing considerably the number of marine protected areas.” They also said they recognized an urgent need to protect sharks and rays, and vowed a “dramatic acceleration in the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources over the next five years.” (AP Photo/Todd VanSickle)
Riots in Stockho... Police officers stand guard in a street during a riot in Stockholm, Sweden, Monday, May 20, 2013. Gangs of youth apparently angered by the police shooting death of an elderly man hurled rocks at police and set cars and buildings on fire in a Stockholm suburb, forcing the evacuation of an apartment block. (AP Photo Johan Nilsson) SWEDEN OUT
Myanmar Muslims ... Muslim men shout following their trial at a township court in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A court in Myanmar sentenced seven Muslims to terms ranging from life to two years in prison Tuesday for the killing of a Buddhist monk during sectarian violence that is posing a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
Kerry to Mideast... Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio de Aguiar Patriota at the State Department in Washington Monday, May 20, 2013. Kerry is heading back to the Middle East this week to press his case for peace talks between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's regime amid increasing signs the new U.S. strategy to halt the war is being undermined by Russia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)