In his statement, Haddad Adel reminded that his prime objective has always been the victory of the Principlist camp in the upcoming presidential election, and added, "On the very same basis I am bound to avoid any move which would directly or indirectly lead to the defeat of the Principlists in this election."
He further reminded that he had joined Supreme Leader's Top Advisor Ali Akbar Velayati and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf to form the Coalition 2+1 to help prevent the failure of the Principlist Camp in the election due to tough rivalry among the Camp nominees.
Haddad Adel mentioned that since the beginning all the three Coalition members had vowed to give up the race in favor of the one nominee who could win most public support in opinion polls prior to the election.
"And now I stay on my word and declare that I quit the Islamic Republic of Iran's presidential election race to contribute my share to the victory of the Principlists in this election," he said in his statement.
He further expressed the hope that other Principlist nominees would comply with their duty at this sensitive juncture.
Haddad Adel also asked the people to trust the Principlist Camp and give its nominees a chance to win the election in the first round or give such a wide support to the Camp nominees that "if the election would go to a run off voting, both candidates in the second round would come from the Principlist Camp.
Members of the Coalition 2+1 have repeatedly announced that only one of the members of 2+1 Coalition will run in the June presidential election too.
Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, born in 1945 in Tehran, is a philosopher and politician.
He is a former speaker of the Iranian Parliament. He was the first non-cleric in the post since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
He received his Phd in philosophy from the University of Tehran in 1975, and also, holds a BSc and an MSc in Physics from the University of Tehran and University of Shiraz, respectively.
He is currently a member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, the High Council of Cultural Revolution, and the Expediency Council.
Iranian voters will go to over 66,000 polling stations inside and outside the country on June 14 to elect their next president.
Campaigning for the June 14 presidential election kicked off in Iran on May 22 after the Guardian Council released the list of 8 qualified candidates.
The eight qualified candidates represent a wide range of political streams from Principlists to reformers.
There are now 7 candidates left in the race. They include Qalibaf, Velayati, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, former SNSC Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani, former Oil and Telecommunication minister Seyed Mohammad Qarazi, former Vice-President under Khatami Mohammad Reza Aref, former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezayee.
Campaigning will continue up to June 13, that is 24 hours before the start of the election.
