Outspoken Iranian reformist Mostafa Moin, originally barred from running in Friday's presidential elections, surged to second place in an opinion poll today.
The nationwide survey of 46,034 people by official news agency IRNA suggested Mr Moin may be able to squeeze into a second round run-off against former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who still leads the polls.
With just 27.1 per cent backing Mr Rafsanjani (70) - a pro-business conservative who favours improved relations with the West - he remains well short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright on June 17th.
In the IRNA poll said Mr Moin (54), a former higher education minister under outgoing reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami, received 18.9 per cent support. Other polls released in recent weeks have consistently shown Mr Moin, in third place behind conservative former police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
The reformist was only allowed enter the race after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a hardline electoral vetting body to overturn his ban.
But the IRNA survey showed Mr Qalibaf slipping back into third place with 16.5 per cent. Reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi was in fourth with 11.3 per cent with former Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leading the other four chasers with 7.7 per cent.
With four traditional conservatives running, hardline commentators and politicians have urged them to put aside their differences and agree on a single nominee in order to defeat Mr Rafsanjani and Mr Moin.
Combined support for the four traditional conservatives stood at 36.2 per cent, the IRNA poll showed.
The poll also suggested turnout may be slightly higher than expected with 54.8 per cent saying they would definitely vote and another 15.5 per cent saying they would probably go to the polls.