Iran's Presidential Candidate Karroubi Faces Challenge From Reformers and Conservatives
 

Dubbed the "Reform Sheikh", former parliamentary speaker Mehdi Karrubi comes to this year's presidential election with a mix of clerical and liberal credentials that should make him almost the ideal candidate.

Yet in reality Karroubi's prospects look dim. Not only has he burned his bridges with the conservative establishment, he is also regarded with suspicion by the reformers, who in any case are promoting their own man, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. But he insists he is not going to drop out of the election race.