Saeed Mohammad Mayor of Tehran?

Speculation rose today that number of disqualified candidates may be parachuted into the role of Mayor of Tehran, with Saeed Mohammad at the top of the list. The rumoured names also included Hossein Dehghan and Rostam Ghasemi both of whom, like Saeed Mohammad, have given their support to Ebrahim Raisi since standing down or being disqualified. Local council elections will take place throughout Iran on the same day as the Presidential election.

Read more at Donya-e-Eqtesad

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Mohammad-Javad Larijani: Ahmadinejad is Like a Baha’i

Mohammad-Javad Larijani, senior advisor to Supreme Leader on foreign affairs, gave an interview in which he mostly defended his brothers, disqualified candidate Ali Larijani and Guardian Council member Amoli Larijani. However, he also commented on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s messianic Shi’a beliefs, saying they were deviant like Baha’ism. Larijani’s comments are serious as the Baha’i religion is illegal in Iran and its followers are regularly subject to discrimination, harassment and arrest.

Watch the interview at the Student News Network

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Hemmati Launches Slogan

Abdul Nasser Hemmati announced his slogan to be “interaction from home to the world”. Hemmati explained his slogan as follows: “the living conditions of the people and the governance of the country cannot improve without an agreement to lift sanctions and improve relations with the world and the region, alongside domestic problem-based agreements within the political and social forces, and between the government and its citizens”. 

Read more at Entekhab

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IRGC Does not back Any Candidate

Commander Yadollah Javani, the political deputy of the Revolutionary Guards, said that the IRGC does not play any role in elections and “does not have a candidate, nor does the institution support any particular person on the list”. The issue of “military candidates” has been controversial throughout this campaign, although none of the approved candidates have tried to portray themselves in that way.

Read more at IRNA

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Ahmadinejad tried to Access Intelligence Files

Heydar Moslehi, who served as Minister for Intelligence in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term, said that the former President had asked several times to provide him with intelligence documents that were only authorised for the viewing of the Supreme Leader. Moslehi said that he refused in every instance, and this was a source of arguments between the two men. There are rumours that Ahmadinejad has dirt files on senior government figures, gathered from intelligence he stole during his presidency. 

Read more at Donya-e-Eqtesad

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Kadkhodaei: I Spoke to Amoli Larijani about his Remarks

Spokesperson for the Guardian Council, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, mentioned that he had spoken to Guardian Council member Amoli Larijani, the brother of disqualified candidate Ali Larijani, about comments he made regarding the list of candidates. On Tuesday May 25, the day of the announcement of the list of candidates, Amoli Larijani said that the security services had fed the Guardian Council false information in order to pressure them to disqualify candidates, adding that he had never encountered a more “indefensible” decision made by the Council. Kadkhodaei said that he spoke to Amoli Larijani about the need to avoid damage to the Islamic Republic, but added that “ultimately, I am not responsible for his (Amoli Larijani’s) words”.

Read more at Khabaronline

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Zakani: The US will Beg to Lift Sanctions

Ali-Reza Zakani said in an online interview, that once elected, the United States would beg Iran to return to the JCPOA, and this would mean the lifting of sanctions. Despite describing the JCPOA as a defective agreement, Zakani said that the US is desperate to return to it, and he would be able to facilitate to Iran’s advantage. In the same interview Zakani was asked about his wealth, where he revealed that he and his wife own three properties in Tehran and Qom.

Read more at Khabaronline

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