News - Middle East: Iraq's Supreme Federal Court has ruled that former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari is not eligible to run for president, a week after suspending his nomination for the position amid years-old corruption charges against him.

The court said in a statement that a decision by parliament to accept his presidential bid was incorrect as the 68-year-old Kurdish politician did not fulfill the conditions for nomination stipulated in the country's constitution. It also barred him from running for the post in the future, the official Iraq News Agency reported on Sunday.

“We were surprised by our exclusion from our right to nominate,” Zebari said in a news conference following the ruling.

“We respect the judiciary, but I have the right to say that there has been injustice and arbitrariness in the decision.”