Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Persian: ‌اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی‎, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, Hashemi Bahramani هاشمی بهرمانی) served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 until 1997. On 11 May 2013 he entered the race for the June 2013 presidential election. "I came to serve. It is the right of the people to choose me or not," Iranian media quoted him as saying as he registered. Rafsanjani signalled few days before registration that he would not run without Khamenei's consent. It was unclear on Saturday whether the supreme leader had in fact intervened in the final hours before registration drew to a close. As early consequences merchants cut prices as the slumping Iranian currency clawed back about 4 percent against the U.S. dollar.