Tehran - Former Iranian prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi said Tuesday he was prepared to run in the June 12 presidential election, ISNA news agency reported.

Moussavi is a moderate technocrat opposing the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and considered close to the two other candidates, Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karroubi.

Moussavi, born in 1941 in Khameneh, north-western Iran, was prime minister from 1981 and 1989, during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988).

In 1989 the prime minister portfolio was scrapped from the Iranian constitution and the president became the main head of the executive power and the country's number two after the supreme leadership, currently in the hands of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Moussavi withdrew from the political scenery since then and just acted as advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005.

He has also served as member of Expediency Council, an arbitration body in charge for meddling in legislative disputes, but both posts had no political significance.

Moussavi was initially supposed to act as Khatami's vice-president in case of an election victory but for unknown reasons, he decided to run directly in the election.

The presence of three candidates with similar standpoints is considered by observers to be to the advantage of Ahmadinejad as the votes for the three would be split while the president's ultra- conservative faction has decided to name Ahmadinejad as its sole candidate.

From the moderate conservative faction, Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is said to announce his candidacy in due time.

Observers believe that not the candidates but rather the turnout will decide about the election results.

A high turnout, especially with the votes of the silent majority, would increase the chances of the opposition candidates and especially Khatami, but a low turnout would likely help Ahmadinejad to a second term as the president's supporters would definitely go to the polls. (dpa)