Backgrounder: Four candidates in upcoming Iranian presidential election

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-- Former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei

Rezaei, currently the secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, is considered by many observers as a moderate conservative candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

Rezaei was born in 1954 in the city of Masjed Soleyman in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan. He holds a PhD in economics from Tehran University.

Rezaei, who was Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from 1981 to 1997, also ran as a candidate in the last presidential election in 2005, but withdrew on June 15, 2005, just two days before the election.

Officially adopting "economic rescue" as a campaign slogan, Rezaei says he intends to bring a revolution in the Iranian economy as Ahmadinejad has driven the economy to the edge of a "precipice."

Rezaei said he is ready to have interactions with foreign countries, including the United States, on preserving security, peace and tranquility in the region.

Rezaei said that, in order to help address Western concerns over the nature of Iran's nuclear activities, he would continue Iran's uranium enrichment within the framework of an international consortium, which may include the United States, Russia and European countries.