The [[President of Iran]] is the country's highest directly elected official, the chief of the executive branch, and the second most important position after the [[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]]. Duties are similar to heads of governments in other countries, except that the [[Military of Iran|armed forces]], [[Judiciary System of Iran|Chief judiciary system]], [[IRIB|state television]], and other key governmental organizations are under the control of the [[Supreme Leader of Iran]]. It is also an informal custom that cabinet ministers for sensitive departments like foreign relations and intelligence are coordinated with the Supreme Leader.
Any Iranian citizen born in Iran, believing in God and the official religion of Iran ([[Islam]]), who has always been loyal to the [[Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran|Constitution]] and is above 21 years of age may register as a presidential candidate. An institution called the Election Monitoring Agency (EMA) and managed by the [[Guardian Council]] vets registered candidates (in the 2009 election 36,000 people signed up as candidates) and selects a handful to run in the election. The Guardian Council does not announce publicly the reason for rejections of particular candidates although those reasons are explained to each candidate. Women who register as candidates have invariably been excluded from standing for election by the Council.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2148306.html|title=First female candidate registered for Iranian presidential elections|last=Karimov|first=F|date=8 May 2013|work=Trend|accessdate=18 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607174407/http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2148306.html|archive-date=7 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Amnesty20130517">{{cite news|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-s-ban-female-presidential-candidates-contradicts-constitution-2013-05-17|title=Iran’s ban on female presidential candidates contradicts Constitution|date=17 May 2013|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=18 June 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608041558/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-s-ban-female-presidential-candidates-contradicts-constitution-2013-05-17|archivedate=8 June 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
