Shojaei: If I am Disqualified, I Will Ask For an Explanation

High profile female reformist candidate Zahra Shojaei said that there is no reason for her to be disqualified by the Guardian Council, and if she is not among the approved candidates on May 27, she will appeal for an explanation. Shojaei added that upon her registration, she was treated differently from other candidates and moved away from the live broadcast, adding that if she hadn’t protested to the Ministry of Interior, she believes that she would not have had the opportunity to speak to reporters at all. Shojaei added that if she is approved, and the Reform Front asks her to stand aside for a consensus candidate, she will comply with their decision. 

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Approved Candidates Announced on May 27

Jamal Araf, the head of the Electoral Board at the Ministry of Interior, told the media that the registered candidates have been sent to the Guardian Council for approval, and the expected result of their vetting is on the sixth of the Persian month of Khordad (May 27). However Araf added that the Guardian Council may make an announcement earlier if it takes less time. Only 592 people nominated for this election, down from 1,636 in the last election four years ago. This drop in numbers reflects the effect of COVID on the country, but also may reflect the general disillusionment in Iranian society regarding the political process.

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Guardian Council: Restrictions on Campaigning

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman of the Guardian Council, announced that restrictions would be placed on campaigning due to COVID. Large gatherings and rallies will be banned and most campaigning will take place in the media. Public advertising and speeches would be approved or limited based on the region of the country and the local COVID conditions. Once the candidate list is announced, the approved candidates will have until June 16 to promote their material. Two days before the election, on June 18, an election blackout will be enforced, as per the law.

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Female Candidates were 7% of Total

Seven percent of the 592 candidates who registered were women. This is consistent with the numbers from the last election where 8% were women, despite a two-third drop in the number of nominations. Eighty percent of candidates were under 40, which indicates that one in five candidates nominated despite the Guardian Council’s recent exclusion of candidates under 40 or over 75.

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Kadkhodaei Visits Election HQ

Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardian Council, arrived at election headquarters at 3pm to meet with officials of the Ministry of Interior. After the meeting, Kadkhodaei gave a speech in which he said “those who register for this election must provide documents contained in the Guardian Council’s resolution on candidates, otherwise their eligibility will not be checked”. Kadkhodaei’s comments were likely an indication that Mostafa Tajzadeh’s registration will be disqualified by the Ministry of Interior and not even considered by the Guardian Council. The timing of Kadkhodaei’s visit also may have been in response to rumours that Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister for Communications who was barred from this election, was due to arrive at 3:30pm in order to register in defiance of the Guardian Council.

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Ahmadinejad Registers Provocatively

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered for candidacy today alongside 100 supporters in a chaotic performance. Ahmadinejad first met his supporters in Narmak 72 Square near his house, where they begged him to register, a request to which Ahmadinejad finally theatrically accepted. From there, he walked with his supporters to the Election Headquarters in Fatemi Street, where he engaged in more theatrics, including climbing a gate to wave to supporters. After registration, he fronted the media whose questions he refused to answer, and he instead read preprepared statements making threats if his candidacy was not approved. In the midst of the chaos, Ahmadinejad’s supporters, one of whom was carrying soil from the graves of protesters killed in the 2019 demonstrations, tried to accompany their candidate inside, only to be stopped by Ministry of Interior officials who traded punches with the crowd. It is unlikely that the Guardian Council will approve Ahmadinejad as a candidate.

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Khamenei Clarifies “Young Revolutionary Government” Statement

In a meeting with university students, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that in his statement last year, that the next President should be a “young hezbollahi” overseeing a “young Revolutionary government”, he did not mean “a government in which all members are in the age group of 30 to 35 years”. Khamenei’s statement last year has been seized upon by supporters of Saeed Mohammad as an endorsement of their candidate. Khamenei seemed to distance his words from Saeed Mohammad while also bringing his statements in line with the Guardian Council’s recent changes to the vetting of candidates which prohibits registrations of people under 40.

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Rouhani and Guardian Council in Law War

This afternoon, President Rouhani issued a directive to the Minister of the Interior (whose department overlooks the electoral process) to follow existing laws and not adhere to the conditions added by the Guardian Council last Wednesday. Among those conditions was an age restriction of candidates to between 40 and 75, which would exclude Rouhani’s Minister of Communication, Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi, from running. A few hours later, the Guardian Council responded on social media through a spokesman, stating that “the decision of the Guardian Council regarding the conditions of the registrants of the Presidential elections is binding on the Ministry of Interior”.

Read more about Rouhani at Hamshahrionline.
Read more about the Guardian Council’s response at MashreghNews

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Azari Jahromi Criticises Guardian Council Decision

Minister of Communication Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi posted a video on Instagram in which he criticised the current generation of leaders for not following the example of the Revolutionary generation in passing on responsibilities to younger members of the government. Azeri Jahromi added that, “because most management positions are simply moved between the same generation, the average age of cabinets and managerial positions ages with them”. Azari Jahromi has been excluded from running for President by the Guardian Council following a rule change on Wednesday, as he is under 40. 

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