An IRGC Political Deputy, Commander Yadollah Javani, today stated that Saeed Mohammad was dismissed from his command last month for misconduct. Mohammad, seen as a star candidate, had stated on March 9 that he had resigned his command to run for President, and had been unusually quite since the New Year on March 21. Mohammad’s announcement had drawn criticism from Iranians who believed that it was an intrusion of the IRGC on civilian politics, and this was reflected in Javani’s statement that “the IRGC is strongly opposed to the entry of the Revolutionary Guards into the election arena without going through the defined legal processes and processes”.