More than 1000 candidates have registered online to be considered for presidential candidacy in the Iranian elections in June. All candidates have five days from today to appear at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior. After the registration is complete, the powerful 12-member Guardian Council will screen the candidates and offer a final ruling on who will run in the election.

In the last presidential election in 2005, less than 10 people among over 1000 registered candidates got the chance to run. All the lucky candidates were faithful and loyal to the Islamic Republic.

The presence of eccentric candidates this time (just as four years ago) attracts a lot of attention. An Iranian blogger and journalist, Digital Kalashnikof has seized on this moment of “glory” and filmed some of the candidates who presented themselves at the Ministry of the Interior:

1- A man wearing a cowboy hat. Maybe in the USA a candidate in a cowboy hat is more ordinary – at least in some states – but in the Islamic Republic it is an event:

In the video above, the guy in the cowboy hat responds that he has not finished high school, and that “he is at the service of all people and wants to revive Iran's 7000 year old civilization.”

He answers reporters questions about the hat by saying that it is a sign that he is “the servant of Imam Ali, and that we find bad and good people in all countries.”

2-Another fellow wears Iran's flag and says nobody can compete with him in this election. The old man says he is doing his “civic duty” and following the Iranian leaders’ words to present himself as candidate. He claims he already has a program to govern and a list of ministers that are like him.

7Tir writes [fa] that Iranian authorities create a lot of publicity on these clowns to justify Guardian Council's decision to deny most registered candidates the opportunity to actually run in the presidential election.