Iran's Guardian Council, the country's top legislative arbitration body, has allowed female citizens to participate in the upcoming presidential election dueon June 17, state television reported on Saturday.

Gholamhossein Elham, spokesman of the Guardian Council, wasquoted as saying women who are qualified in terms of some conditions can run for president.

The decision ended disputes on the candidacy related to gender in the presidential election, which came from the ambiguity of theword "rejal" in Iran's constitution.

Iran's constitution says presidential candidates must bereligious and political "rejal", a loanword from Arabic which canbe interpreted as both "man" and "personalities".

Last October, the Guardian Council judged that only men would bequalified to compete in the presidential election.

Elham announced Saturday that the Guardian Council has now agreed that the word does not specify gender.

For the past 25 years, the hardline consitutional watchdog has rejected women from running for presidency according to the "male"interpretation.

Source: Xinhua