PHOTO: Iran’s Supreme Leader and President Rouhani
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Trying to deal with the Guardian Council’s purge of thousands of candidates for February’s elections in Iran, the Rouhani Government has said the President may discuss the matter with the Supreme Leader.
On Monday the Council, whose 12 members are appointed by the Supreme Leader and the judiciary, carried out the second round of disqualifications. It approved only 166 of the 800 hopefuls for the 88-member Assembly of Experts, the body which chooses and can nominally replace the Supreme Leader. Among those banned was the grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini.
In six of Iran’s 31 provinces, there is no opposition to a total of nine candidates.
See Iran Daily, Jan 27: Khamenei Issues His Biggest Challenge With Election Ban of Khomeini’s Grandson
Last week, the Council disqualified 60% of the 12,000 candidates for Parliamentary elections, including 99% of the 3,000 reformists.
See Iran Daily, Jan 19: Anger Grows As 1000s of Election Candidates May Be Disqualified
On Wednedsay, senior Presidential aide Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht was cautious in his remarks to a press conference about the next steps by Rouhani, who is in the midst of a tour of Europe seeking political and economic links. He said the President “can discuss important issues, including the disqualifications”.
Nobakht said that Rouhani has had “unofficial contact with those who have been influential” in the disqualifications and that the Government is “hopeful regarding the Guardian Council’s justice”.
After last week’s announcement of the purge of Parliamentary candidates, Rouhani challenged the Supreme Leader with criticism of a process that could lead to a “one-party State”. He said his 1st Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri, and two Ministers would meet the Guardian Council to remedy any “mistake”.
In another sign of the extent of the bans, prominent reformist politician Rasoul Montakhabnia said on Wednesday that he had banned from the Assembly of Experts vote. On Monday, reports incorrectly said Montakhabnia was one of the few reformists passed by the Council.
Rouhani Opens French Tour With Business Deals, Support of Syria’s Assad
President Rouhani has opened the Paris leg of his European tour with a joint press conference with French counterpart Francois Hollande.
Rouhani said the diplomatic process that reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program should be a model for other issues such as the Syrian crisis.
He implicitly stood against any demand for President Assad to step aside, saying Syrians should decide their political future and other countries should avoid interference in Syria’s affairs: “The main problem in Syria is not such and such person, the main issue is terrorism and Daesh [Islamic State].”
In a jab at Saudi Arabia and Turkey, he said foreign parties had fueled the crisis by arming “terror groups” and engaging in illegal oil trade with them.
Rouhani also pursued Iran’s quest for business and investment with a meeting with French executives. Tehran has confirmed a deal to purchase 118 Airbus passenger planes for up to $50 billion, and France’s energy giant Total signed a letter of intent to resume purchases of crude oil from Iran, cut off by European Union sanctions in 2012.
Rouhani with Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné:
French carmaker Peugeot Citroën announced on Thursday that it has signed a $439 million contract with Iran’s Khodro to produce a range of automobiles in the country.
Peugeot Citroën will produce 200,000 cars a year in a 50:50 joint venture from the second half of 2017, the report added.
The company left Iran in 2012.
