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In a move which surprised politicians and analysts inside Iran (notto say pro-IRI circles in the United States), the Council of Guardians(COG) rejected 234 of the 238 candidates seeking approval to run in theMay 23 presidential elections. The four names retained for the officialcampaign, 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 advisorSeyed Reza Zavarei. [Tehran Radio 5/7]
Commenting this decision, COG Secretary Ayatollah Jannati said thatsome of the rejected candidates were "agents of SAVAK," "illiterate,""Marxist," non believers in the Velayat-e faghih." As forthe nine women candidates, who were all rejected, he claimed they did notpossess the "religious and political character" required of candidates.[Tehran radio 5/8]
Mrs. Azam Taleghani, one of the rejected candidates, called for a revisionof the regulations prohibiting women from serving as President of the IslamicRepublic [BBC Farsi service, 5/7].
Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi, who also spoke on the BBC but who was apparentlybarred from the domestic Iranian media, asked: "Based on which articleof the constitution has the Council of Guardians rejected me?... If theCouncil of Guardians is sure about the legality of its decisions, it shoulddeclare the basis for them." He then said that his movement wouldsoon decide how to protest this decision. [BBC 5/7]
In a speech to clerics and religious students on Wednesday, May 7, SupremeLeader Ayatollah Khamene'i castigated presidential candidates daring toshow any desire for renewing relations with the United States - an issuewhich appeared to emerge from the realm of taboo in recent weeks, as wereported 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 intentionto boycott the elections. These include: the Iran Nation's Party, the KurdishDemocratic Party of Iran, and the People's Mujahidin of Iran.
Senior Iranian Sunni Muslim leaders told FDI recently they would betelling their partisans to boycott the elections as well. "Why shouldwe vote in elections where Sunnis are denied any role?" said MolaviAli Akbar Mollahzadeh, a prominent Sunni cleric from Iranian Balouchistan.
It is unclear as we go to press whether rejected candidates EbrahimYazdi or Mrs. Azam Taleghani will also call for a boycott.
As we reported last week, liberal hopeful Ezatollah Sahabi said publiclyhe hoped Hojj. Khatami would win the elections, since the former IslamicGuidance 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 hewould back liberal causes if elected. [Resalat 5/5]
If nothing else, Mahdavi Kani's statement shows the extent of the riftbetween the pro-Khatami faction and the pro-Nateq-Nouri faction withinthe Islamic Republic leadership.
Ayatollah Khamene'i drove in the nail in a speech last week aimed atsenior clerics in the holy cities of Qom and Mashad. "The people trustthe 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 electionsa sign of blossoming democracy in Iran, we dedicate this week's tally ofelection rallies disrupted by Ansar-e Hezbollah and other radical (andstate-controlled) elements:
- Ezatollah Sahabi: campaign speech in Shiraz broken up in "disruptive"elements [Akbar 5/7]
- Faezieh Hashemi (Rafsanjani's daughter): election rally in supportof 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 hostilechanting at the Sadr Theological School in Isfahan, and later, at the SeyedMosque in Isfahan [Iran News 4/24].
In an open letter published to President Rafsanjani by Iran News, theCentral Council of the Islamic Society of Students of Medical Science Universitiesin Shiraz protested the disruption of Khatami's election rallies, sayingthis showed "the determination of the pressure groups to change thecourse of the forthcoming election" and asking the Interior Ministryto intervene. [Iran News 4/27]
Earlier, the paper warned in an editorial that the disruption of electionrallies would cast a dark cloud over the election. "A healthy andpeaceful atmosphere for the election campaigns is necessary because weare heading toward an open-door policy in our political activities. Thereis every possibility that we may have a multiparty system in our countryin the near future. Political immunity is the precondition for such a politicalatmosphere," the editorial said. [4/24]
Bias in the state-run media has also been a focus of complaints insideIran. The academic staff of Yazd province universities lodged a complaintwith the judicial branch against the Voice and Vision Organization (NationalRadio and Television) for its pro-Nateq-Nouri broadcasts. "The currentperformance 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 municipalityhas now been threatened with closure by a government election committee,because of its support for Khatami's candidacy. [Voice of the Islamic Republic5/6] Hamshahri was accused of having distributed special editions in severalprovinces touting the virtues of its candidate - a charge the paper hasdenied.
The move came after Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i banned state-fundedpublications on April 27 from backing candidates in the election, a movewhich most observers saw as aimed at silencing Hamshahri. [IRNA, 4/27]Khamenei's edict came after a Majlis deputy, Seyed Ahmad Rasoulnezhad raisedquestions about the propriety of public assets being used for what he called"factional campaigning." He singled out Hamshahri for havingbecome "a campaign platform for one particular faction." Hiscomments 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," amagazine published by Tehran Municipality. He called the allocation offunds questionable and asked the Minister of Guidance to explain the legalbasis for the payment. [Resalat, 4/17]
The fund was also criticized during a loud demonstration in front ofthe 12th district office of Tehran Municipality, organized by Ansar-e Hezbollah.They criticized mayor Karbaschi of promoting "corruption and ignoranceof Islamic values" with the $14.5 million fund, as well as waste andluxurious living. "The municipality has increased the inflation rateand contributed to the growth of corruption, the luxurious consumptionof 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 candidateby the Revolutionary Guards. "Some high-ranking commanders of theRev. Guards are interfering with the presidential campaigns, and have madestatements against Hojj. Khatami." [Salam 5/7]
Salam's complaint followed a report in Resalat two days earlier whichsheds light on an otherwise obscure comment. In reporting an anti-Khatamispeech by Allah Karam, leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah (the radicals gangsof 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 publicopinion polls into presidential politics, and recently criticized the publicrelations manager at Tehran's Militant Clergy campaign headquarters forpublishing the results of an opinion poll showing Nateq-Nouri the favoredcandidate of Tehran's women (with 38.8% favoring him over the other candidates).
"Resorting to such Western methods is not worthy of an esteemedclerical association," the paper said. "Such opinion polls aregenerally an attempt to create a trend and it is unbecoming of the MilitantClergy Association to resort to such methods." [Jomhouri-e Eslami4/28]
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 reportissued by Freedom House recently in New York. 17 other countries qualifiedfor 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 among24 countries imprisoning journalists for political reasons, with five newsmencurrently known to be in prison. [Int'l Iran Times 5/9]
With a cut in government bread subsidies, the price of bread recentlyincreased by 35%, leading to frequent protests by ordinary Iranians thathave 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 theywould 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 forimports from developing countries, because of the Islamic Republic's recordof human rights abuse, Norwegian Foreign Minister Björn Tore Godalsaid 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 anda Berlin court's finding that Iranian leaders were involved in the murderof four Kurdish dissidents as "serious violations of fundamental humanrights principles and norms of international contacts."
"Norway has as a result implemented a series of measures to cutoff export guarantees for trade and investment, and will oppose any newloans from the World Bank to Iran," he said. He also said Norway wouldoppose Iran's membership in the Asian Bank and block its membership inthe World Trade Organization. [AFP 5/1]
Salman Rushdie has condemned as "contemptible" the EuropeanUnion's decision to allow its ambassadors to return to Tehran despite evidenceof Iran's involvement in terrorism. Speaking on CNN, Rushdie said: "FranklyI think it is pathetic. I was very surprised that after the trial actuallyconvicted the Iranian leadership in a German court, that after token gestures,nothing was done...It is pretty contemptible that Europe was unable torespond to the proof that terrorism had taken place on European soil. Ifpeople are trying to construct an idea of Europe which we all want to belongto, they can't do so if they don't take into account these human rightsaspects." [AFP, May 6]
The Islamic Republic has established a National Committee on HumanitarianLaws, in an attempt to deflect criticism of its record of human rightsabuse. Vahid Dastjerdi, currently head of the Red Crescent Society of Iran,will chair the new committee, which includes representatives of the foreignand interior ministries.
Dastjerdi said the committee "has been established in light ofvarious stances taken in the world attributing violation of human rightsto Iran, while inhuman actions have been taken against Iran in differentcorners of the world such as the chemical bombings of Iran during the eight-yearwar with Iraq and the all-out cooperation of some western countries - especiallyGermany - in producing and delivering chemical substances to Iraq."[IRNA, 4/30]
Salam, which has been unstinting in its criticism of Nateq-Nouri, recentlyran a reader's comment accusing the Majlis speaker of insulting Iranianvoters.
[Reader] In Mr. Nateq-Nouri's recent interview with the BBC, we expectedeverything but to be insulted. The BBC correspondent said: You did notobtain enough votes in the Majlis election! How can you be sure that youwill obtain the required votes in the Presidential election! Mr. Nateq-Nourireplied: If you go to the polling booths, you will see that the names ofthe candidates are listed in alphabetical order. People who do not havethe 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 withthe letter N, it comes fairly low in the alphabet.
I wanted to ask if he is suggesting that Majlis deputies are electedin this ridiculous way and that the people vote in this absurd way? Thisreasoning is only an insult to the people. [Salam 4/22]
The Austrian parliament is considering launching an official inquiryinto Iranian government interference in the investigation of the murderof Kurdish leader Abdolrahram Qassemlou and two colleagues, assassinatedin Vienna on July 13, 1989.
In an emergency debate on May 6, the opposition Liberal Forum tabled60 questions to Foreign Minister and conservative People's Party leaderWolfgang Schuessel relating to the murder, and joined forces with the FreedomParty and the Greens in demanding an independent inquiry into whether theAustrian government caved into pressure from Tehran and allowed Iraniandiplomats suspected of having committed the murder to go free.
``Do you see any link between the escape of the Kurds' killers in 1989and the good relationship between Austria and Iran, which has been characterizedmore by building up economic ties than discussing human rights?'' one ofthe Liberal Forum questions said. [Reuter 5/6]