Tehran  - Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami indicated Monday he could still take part in next June's presidential election, ISNA news agency reported.

"I swear to God that my hesitance and thorough evaluations to run in the election does not mean that I am running away from responsibility or consider my own expediency," Khatami said in a speech in Ilam, western Iran.

"The main issue is solely how to serve the people best," he said.

The country's reformist wing believes that only 65-year-old Khatami would have the potential to seriously challenge President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 elections.

The moderate cleric, however, has said on several occasions that he first wants guarantees he would have enough authority as president to implement his reformist policies within the clergy system in Iran.

Under the Iranian constitution, not the president but the supreme leader - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - is the actual head of state and has the final say on all state affairs.

The leader is said to prefer Ahmadinejad to stay as head of the executive power, although he has never referred to the issue directly.

"It will either be me or Mir Hossein Moussavi to run in the elections," said Khatami who is a harsh critic of Ahmadinejad's internal and external policies.

Moussavi was prime minister between 1981 and 1989 and is considered to be a moderate technocrat in line with Khatami's reform course.

"Not only reformists wish a change of the political status quo," said Khatami, referring to some members of the conservative faction who do not support Ahmadinejad the way they did when he became president in 2005.

"Important is that the votes of the people will be respected and supported," he added.

Under the constitution, the senate-like Guardian Council, consisting of 12 ultra-conservative clerics and jurists, have the power to disqualify candidates running for presidential and parliamentary elections and numerous reformists have in the recent years been dismissed by this council.

"In last year's parliamentary elections we witnessed disqualification of several well-known reformists by the Guardian Council. If we had a fair competition, then the formation of the current parliament would have been different," Khatami said.

Parliament is dominated by conservatives led by former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani who are against the reformists but also critical of the president.

In the event of Khatami's candidacy, Ahmadinejad would face a tough challenge, especially after he has failed to implement his promised economic reforms for the lower and middle class.

His persistence in continuing the country's controversial nuclear programme has so far brought the country three United Nations Security Council resolutions and financial sanctions, and his tirades against Israel have pushed Iran into international isolation.

Observers, however, believe the main aspect in the presidential election will not be who gets the votes but who gives the votes, as a high turnout would definitely benefit the opposition.

A low turn-out, especially as participation of Ahmadinejad supporters should be taken as granted, would be likely to enable Ahmadinejad a second presidential term. (dpa)