Many Incumbent And Ex-Lawmakers Barred From Running In Iran Election

Iran’s clerical watchdog, the Guardian Council, has rejected the qualifications of one in every ten current lawmakers to run in the March parliamentary elections.

A report on the Etemad Online website said that out of the 290 lawmakers, 275 had registered their candidacy for the upcoming elections but the qualifications of only 26 have been rejected.

Etemad Online has published a "confirmed and verified list" of the 26 mainly conservative candidates. The names of at least two reformist figures, Jalal Rashidi Koochi and Majid Ansari both from Fars Province are also on the list.

The mass disqualification of candidates, who are considered regime insiders but relatively more moderate, is a repeat of what hardliners did in the 2020 legislative elections and in the 2021 presidential vote.

Meanwhile, verified reports from Tehran say former Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi, one of the most senior officials in the administration of former President Hassan Rouhani, has been also disqualified.

Another lawmaker Qasem Saedi told reporters that he has been disqualified because he had called for the impeachment of Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi for his poor performance. Saedi said he will definitely challenge the Guardian Council's decision.

Ahmad Alireza Beigi, an ultraconservative lawmaker close to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is said to have been part of the country's intelligence apparatus before becoming a member of the parliament has also been disqualified. Beigi, representing Tabriz, is the MP who disclosed a major financial corruption case involving more than 100 lawmakers who were bribed to avert an impeachment motion against one of President Raisi's Ministers.

The bribery scandal known as SUV-Gate involved the lawmakers receiving vehicles at low prices from the minister of industry, in order not to impeach him.

The lawmaker told the press that no one has told him anything about his disqualification and that he read the news about his rejection in the press. Other reports say he might have been disqualified because of the complaint made against him by a cabinet minister.

The candidates whose candidacy has been rejected by the Guardian Council have the next four days to challenge the Council's decision.

Meanwhile, conservative commentator Mohammad Mohajeri says several candidates close to former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani have also been disqualified. However, he did not name anyone.

In another development, outspoken former lawmaker Gholam Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, a staunch critic of the government and Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has also broke the news about his disqualification. He said he will never forget this and will never forgive those who have rejected his credentials.

In yet another report, conservative politician Mansour Haghighatpour said that most lawmakers who had registered their candidacy have been barred from running for the next parliament. He pointed out that disqualifying candidates for criticizing the government is against the law. Haghighatpour further called on the Guardian Council to revise its decisions regarding disqualification of candidates.

Haghighatpour, who is close to Larijani has confirmed the disqualification of the candidates who were close to the former Majles Speaker, however, he added that his own qualification has been endorsed by the Guardian Council.

Referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's call for a high-turnout election, Haghighatpour reiterated that candidates from different schools of thought should be allowed to take part in elections “if we really want a high-turnout parliamentary election.”

Haghighatpour claimed that four of those close to Larijani who have been rejected could have won half a million votes each if their qualifications were endorsed. He claimed candidates such as: Jafarzadeh Imanabadi from Rasht, Javad Kolivand from Karaj, Nader Qazipour from Urmia, and others former lawmakers such as Javad Jahangirzadeh and former chief justice Ezzatollah Yusefian Molla, who have been barred from running, can attract some one million voters to the polls and ensure a high-turnout election.