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In a move which surprised politicians and analysts inside Iran (not to say pro-IRI circles in the United States), the Council of Guardians (COG) rejected 234 of the 238 candidates seeking approval to run in the May 23 presidential elections. The four names retained for the official campaign, which opens soon, were Majlis speaker Hojj. Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, former minister of Islamic guidance and culture Hojj. Mohammad Khatami, former intelligence minister Hojj. Mohammad Reyshari, and judicial advisor Seyed Reza Zavarei. [Tehran Radio 5/7]
Commenting this decision, COG Secretary Ayatollah Jannati said that some of the rejected candidates were "agents of SAVAK," "illiterate," "Marxist," non believers in the Velayat-e faghih." As for the nine women candidates, who were all rejected, he claimed they did not possess the "religious and political character" required of candidates. [Tehran radio 5/8]
Mrs. Azam Taleghani, one of the rejected candidates, called for a revision of the regulations prohibiting women from serving as President of the Islamic Republic [BBC Farsi service, 5/7].
Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi, who also spoke on the BBC but who was apparently barred from the domestic Iranian media, asked: "Based on which article of the constitution has the Council of Guardians rejected me?... If the Council of Guardians is sure about the legality of its decisions, it should declare the basis for them." He then said that his movement would soon decide how to protest this decision. [BBC 5/7]
In a speech to clerics and religious students on Wednesday, May 7, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i castigated presidential candidates daring to show any desire for renewing relations with the United States - an issue which appeared to emerge from the realm of taboo in recent weeks, as we reported in last week's newswire.
"If any candidate shows the slightest tendency toward the USA, the world shall see that the nation will pay no attention to such a candidate," he said. [Tehran radio, 5/7]
Many Iranian political groups have already announced their intention to boycott the elections. These include: the Iran Nation's Party, the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, and the People's Mujahidin of Iran.
Senior Iranian Sunni Muslim leaders told FDI recently they would be telling their partisans to boycott the elections as well. "Why should we vote in elections where Sunnis are denied any role?" said Molavi Ali Akbar Mollahzadeh, a prominent Sunni cleric from Iranian Balouchistan.
It is unclear as we go to press whether rejected candidates Ebrahim Yazdi or Mrs. Azam Taleghani will also call for a boycott.
As we reported last week, liberal hopeful Ezatollah Sahabi said publicly he hoped Hojj. Khatami would win the elections, since the former Islamic Guidance minister has hinted he would loosen up on "Islamic correctness" in everyday life.
For conservative cleric Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, that was the last straw. "How can a [true] clerical candidate be supported by liberals?" he told Resalat. He criticized Khatami for giving the appearance that he would back liberal causes if elected. [Resalat 5/5]
If nothing else, Mahdavi Kani's statement shows the extent of the rift between the pro-Khatami faction and the pro-Nateq-Nouri faction within the Islamic Republic leadership.
Ayatollah Khamene'i drove in the nail in a speech last week aimed at senior clerics in the holy cities of Qom and Mashad. "The people trust the clergy for guidance on how to vote," the Supreme Leader opined, "so they should actively help people to select the best candidate." [AFP 5/7]
For those think tank deep-thinkers who see in the presidential elections a sign of blossoming democracy in Iran, we dedicate this week's tally of election rallies disrupted by Ansar-e Hezbollah and other radical (and state-controlled) elements:
- Ezatollah Sahabi: campaign speech in Shiraz broken up in "disruptive" elements [Akbar 5/7]
- Faezieh Hashemi (Rafsanjani's daughter): election rally in support of Khatami broken up by "pressure groups" in the city of Farsan [Akbar 5/5]
- Mohammad Khatami, whose Mashad rally was disrupted a few weeks ago, has become the target of Ansar-e Hezbollah and other hard-line groups. Over the past two weeks, his speech was interrupted by heckling and hostile chanting at the Sadr Theological School in Isfahan, and later, at the Seyed Mosque in Isfahan [Iran News 4/24].
In an open letter published to President Rafsanjani by Iran News, the Central Council of the Islamic Society of Students of Medical Science Universities in Shiraz protested the disruption of Khatami's election rallies, saying this showed "the determination of the pressure groups to change the course of the forthcoming election" and asking the Interior Ministry to intervene. [Iran News 4/27]
Earlier, the paper warned in an editorial that the disruption of election rallies would cast a dark cloud over the election. "A healthy and peaceful atmosphere for the election campaigns is necessary because we are heading toward an open-door policy in our political activities. There is every possibility that we may have a multiparty system in our country in the near future. Political immunity is the precondition for such a political atmosphere," the editorial said. [4/24]
Bias in the state-run media has also been a focus of complaints inside Iran. The academic staff of Yazd province universities lodged a complaint with the judicial branch against the Voice and Vision Organization (National Radio and Television) for its pro-Nateq-Nouri broadcasts. "The current performance of the Voice and Vision definitely harms the elections' atmosphere, undermines the people's trust, and creates despondency among voters," the complaint said. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 4/28]
Hamshahri daily, which is owned and operated by Tehran municipality has now been threatened with closure by a government election committee, because of its support for Khatami's candidacy. [Voice of the Islamic Republic 5/6] Hamshahri was accused of having distributed special editions in several provinces touting the virtues of its candidate - a charge the paper has denied.
The move came after Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i banned state-funded publications on April 27 from backing candidates in the election, a move which most observers saw as aimed at silencing Hamshahri. [IRNA, 4/27] Khamenei's edict came after a Majlis deputy, Seyed Ahmad Rasoulnezhad raised questions about the propriety of public assets being used for what he called "factional campaigning." He singled out Hamshahri for having become "a campaign platform for one particular faction." His comments were published in Resalat, which is backing Nateq-Nouri
Rasoulnezhad also claimed that the Central Bank has given a special $14.5 million foreign-currency fund to the "Aftab-Gardan," a magazine published by Tehran Municipality. He called the allocation of funds questionable and asked the Minister of Guidance to explain the legal basis for the payment. [Resalat, 4/17]
The fund was also criticized during a loud demonstration in front of the 12th district office of Tehran Municipality, organized by Ansar-e Hezbollah. They criticized mayor Karbaschi of promoting "corruption and ignorance of Islamic values" with the $14.5 million fund, as well as waste and luxurious living. "The municipality has increased the inflation rate and contributed to the growth of corruption, the luxurious consumption of consumer goods and the revival of an aristocratic life style," one demonstrator was quoted as telling the crowd. Resalat, April 27]
Salam daily, which has been supporting the candidacy of Hojj. Khatami, has complained of behind-the-scenes activities against their candidate by the Revolutionary Guards. "Some high-ranking commanders of the Rev. Guards are interfering with the presidential campaigns, and have made statements against Hojj. Khatami." [Salam 5/7]
Salam's complaint followed a report in Resalat two days earlier which sheds light on an otherwise obscure comment. In reporting an anti-Khatami speech by Allah Karam, leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah (the radicals gangs of street thugs who like to break up election rallies by "liberals" as well as by Khatami himself), the paper referred to Allah Karam as "Rev. guards Brigadier General." [Resalat 5/5]
Any more doubts as to who really controls Ansar-e Hezbollah?
Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper is alarmed by the introduction of public opinion polls into presidential politics, and recently criticized the public relations manager at Tehran's Militant Clergy campaign headquarters for publishing the results of an opinion poll showing Nateq-Nouri the favored candidate of Tehran's women (with 38.8% favoring him over the other candidates).
"Resorting to such Western methods is not worthy of an esteemed clerical association," the paper said. "Such opinion polls are generally an attempt to create a trend and it is unbecoming of the Militant Clergy Association to resort to such methods." [Jomhouri-e Eslami 4/28]
This week's news summary would not be complete without the following, uttered by Ayatollah Yazdi, head of the Judiciary branch:
"Today, there is not one single political prisoner in Iran." [Tehran Radio, 5/7]
The Islamic Republic was ranked last in the annual press freedom report issued by Freedom House recently in New York. 17 other countries qualified for the bottom rank alongside of the IRI: Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Algeria, Belarus, Burma, Burundi, China, Cuba, North Korea, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikstan, and Zaire.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Iran was among 24 countries imprisoning journalists for political reasons, with five newsmen currently known to be in prison. [Int'l Iran Times 5/9]
With a cut in government bread subsidies, the price of bread recently increased by 35%, leading to frequent protests by ordinary Iranians that have been relayed in the Tehran press.
Jomhouri-e Eslami quoted several angry citizens in its May 5 edition, who complained of low salaries, the sudden increase, and wondered how they would make ends meet. [5/5]
Two days later, the same paper reported that Tehran bakeries were handing... campaign posters to their customers when they bought bread.
Norway has withdrawn the special trade status normally reserved for imports from developing countries, because of the Islamic Republic's record of human rights abuse, Norwegian Foreign Minister Björn Tore Godal said during a May Day speech.
"Norway has an active international commitment to human rights [which] we want to promote bilaterally through dialogue and positive methods. But dialogue does not get through with certain regimes," he said.
He cited the death sentence against British author Salman Rushdie and a Berlin court's finding that Iranian leaders were involved in the murder of four Kurdish dissidents as "serious violations of fundamental human rights principles and norms of international contacts."
"Norway has as a result implemented a series of measures to cut off export guarantees for trade and investment, and will oppose any new loans from the World Bank to Iran," he said. He also said Norway would oppose Iran's membership in the Asian Bank and block its membership in the World Trade Organization. [AFP 5/1]
Salman Rushdie has condemned as "contemptible" the European Union's decision to allow its ambassadors to return to Tehran despite evidence of Iran's involvement in terrorism. Speaking on CNN, Rushdie said: "Frankly I think it is pathetic. I was very surprised that after the trial actually convicted the Iranian leadership in a German court, that after token gestures, nothing was done...It is pretty contemptible that Europe was unable to respond to the proof that terrorism had taken place on European soil. If people are trying to construct an idea of Europe which we all want to belong to, they can't do so if they don't take into account these human rights aspects." [AFP, May 6]
The Islamic Republic has established a National Committee on Humanitarian Laws, in an attempt to deflect criticism of its record of human rights abuse. Vahid Dastjerdi, currently head of the Red Crescent Society of Iran, will chair the new committee, which includes representatives of the foreign and interior ministries.
Dastjerdi said the committee "has been established in light of various stances taken in the world attributing violation of human rights to Iran, while inhuman actions have been taken against Iran in different corners of the world such as the chemical bombings of Iran during the eight-year war with Iraq and the all-out cooperation of some western countries - especially Germany - in producing and delivering chemical substances to Iraq." [IRNA, 4/30]
Salam, which has been unstinting in its criticism of Nateq-Nouri, recently ran a reader's comment accusing the Majlis speaker of insulting Iranian voters.
[Reader] In Mr. Nateq-Nouri's recent interview with the BBC, we expected everything but to be insulted. The BBC correspondent said: You did not obtain enough votes in the Majlis election! How can you be sure that you will obtain the required votes in the Presidential election! Mr. Nateq-Nouri replied: If you go to the polling booths, you will see that the names of the candidates are listed in alphabetical order. People who do not have the patience to read it all write a few names from the top of the list, in order to perform their religious duty. Since Nateq-Nouri begins with the letter N, it comes fairly low in the alphabet.
I wanted to ask if he is suggesting that Majlis deputies are elected in this ridiculous way and that the people vote in this absurd way? This reasoning is only an insult to the people. [Salam 4/22]
The Austrian parliament is considering launching an official inquiry into Iranian government interference in the investigation of the murder of Kurdish leader Abdolrahram Qassemlou and two colleagues, assassinated in Vienna on July 13, 1989.
In an emergency debate on May 6, the opposition Liberal Forum tabled 60 questions to Foreign Minister and conservative People's Party leader Wolfgang Schuessel relating to the murder, and joined forces with the Freedom Party and the Greens in demanding an independent inquiry into whether the Austrian government caved into pressure from Tehran and allowed Iranian diplomats suspected of having committed the murder to go free.
``Do you see any link between the escape of the Kurds' killers in 1989 and the good relationship between Austria and Iran, which has been characterized more by building up economic ties than discussing human rights?'' one of the Liberal Forum questions said. [Reuter 5/6]