Tehran (CNN) -- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will challenge the disqualification of his top aide from next month's presidential election, Iran's state-run Press TV reported Wednesday. Only eight candidates have been approved to run for office from more than 680 candidates who had registered for the June 14 election. Read more: Ahmadinejad shows no signs of going quietly Along with Ahmadinejad's aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the name of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was also notably absent from the list of approved nominees, as was that of former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The vetting process was carried out by Iran's Guardian Council, the country's most influential clerical body, which operates under the watchful eyes of Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei.
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NEW: Official campaigning by the 8 approved presidential candidates will start on Friday
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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will contest the disqualification of his top aide
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Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is also among those disqualified
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Iran's Guardian Council decides who can stand in the elections on June 14
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
@placeholder appealed for his supporters to be patient Wednesday, saying on his website that he would seek help from Khamenei.
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Ahmadinejad, who is term-limited and so cannot run for a third consecutive term, has been grooming @placeholder to take over for years.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
The head of @placeholder's election campaign office said the former president will not object to the Guardian Council's decision, Press TV reported.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Rafsanjani, who served two terms as president from 1989 to 1997, has long been a staunch critic and bitter political rival of @placeholder.
Seyed Ali Khamenei
He later toned down the attacks and made statements of apparent support of the regime and @placeholder.