On Twitter, Ali Motahari criticised the Guardian Council for its widespread disqualification of presidential candidates, saying that “system of the Republic is in danger”. Motahari, who was himself disqualified, added that the Principalists should be more vocal, since while the disqualifications favour them, at some point in the future the system will turn on them. Motahari’s account has since been suspended by Twitter.
Hassan Khomeini said of the disqualification of candidates that “any attempt to deny the republican element of the Islamic Republic is counter-revolutionary.” Khomeini, who is the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini and did not nominate in these elections at the request of the Supreme Leader, added in a direct reference to the Guardian Council’s spokesperson that “anyone who says that the system remains legitimate even if the people do not participate in the elections, that person doesn’t know the spirit and nature of the Islamic Republic”.
Abdullah Ganji, the editor of the Principalist Javan newspaper, wrote that Ebrahim Raisi is speaking to both the Guardian Council and to other “elders” of the government in the endeavour to get them to reconsider the disqualification of several candidates, including Ali Larijani. Later in the day, Raisi told reporters that he was hoping for a reconsideration of the list, so that it is more “competitive and participatory”.
The final list of vetted candidates has been sent by the Guardian Council to the Ministry of Interior, who will announce the list on the afternoon of Tuesday May 25. FarsNews published a list of seven candidates, supposedly leaked by a journalist who was shown the list: Ebrahim Raisi, Mohsen Rezaei, Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh, Saeed Jalili, Ali-Reza Zakani, Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Abdul-Naser Hemmati.
Masoumeh Ebtekar, the Vice President for Women’s and Family Affairs, said that she had written to the Secretary of the Guardian Council to approve a woman for the first time in Iran’s history. Referring to the Constitutional definition of a presidential candidate, Ebtekar said “I asked the Guardian Council to approve a woman among the candidates for the first time to help revive the country's social capital”.
Hadi Tahan-Nazif, the youngest member of the Guardian Council, said in an interview that no candidate has ever been rejected because of their gender. When pressed on the issue, Tahan-Nazif said “women have registered and been rejected because they did not qualify” adding that “if the Guardian Council had such a ban, it would have told the Interior Ministry not to register women”. Tahan-Nazif blamed the media for creating an issue around the approval of female candidates.
First Vice President and candidate Eshaq Jahangiri said that he would not engage in any candidate debates until after the official candidates list is announced on May 26 or 27. Jahangiri said that this was in accordance with the law which does not allow campaigning before the official list is announced. However, many are interpreting this as him backing down from a previous challenge to debate, a challenge that was enthusiastically taken up by Ezzatollah Zarghami on Friday. A rumour is also circulating that Jahangiri has been tipped off that he will not be among the approved candidates.
Conservative technocrat candidate, Fereydoun Abbasi, a nuclear scientist who was the target of an assassination attempt in 2010, made a number of telling remarks about the motivations of rival candidates in this election. Abbasi rhetorically asked why certain senior Principalists were always moving between senior roles rather than staying in one position and doing a better job in that one role. Abbasi was making reference to Raisi’s move from the head of the Imam Reza Foundation to the Chief Justice role to becoming a presidential candidate, all within the past five years. Abbasi added that Ahmadinejad has all the necessary qualifications and experience, so he wouldn’t see a problem if the Guardian Council approved his candidacy.
In commenting on Zahra Shojaei’s nomination for President, lawyer and Presidential advisor Shahindokht Molaverdi wrote on Instagram: “Unfortunately, in 1400 (2021), in the 21st century, we still see that being a man is considered a criterion for being human”. Molaverdi added that “the registration of Zahra Shojaei is a serious test for the Guardian Council; she is a political and religious figure (shakhsiyat-e siasi va mazhabi). Let women be among political people (rejal-e-siasi) andmen so that they can enjoy their most basic human right, which is the right to be elected”.
Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council, said that if there is a low turnout for this election, this will not effect the legitimacy of the result, saying that while many hoped for a high turnout “from a legal point of view, a low turnout does not pose any legal problem for the validity and legitimacy of the election”. Kadkhodaei was only speaking of the legal consequences of a low turnout, not the political ramifications. In other news, the Guardian Council has asked for more time to review the qualifications of candidates, meaning that the announcement of candidates should take place no earlier than May 27.