(Bloomberg) -- Mohsen Mehralizadeh, a reformist and former vice president, dropped out of Iran’s presidential race ahead of the June 18 vote, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The move is likely to help attract votes for Abdolnaser Hemmati, a fellow reformist and former governor of the country’s central bank. The news agency didn’t provide a reason for Mehralizadeh leaving the race.Mehralizadeh served as vice president under reformist President Mohammad Khatami. He also ran in the 2005 presidential election, but lost after securing less than 1.5 million votes.

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