Guardian Council Approves Eligibility of Seven Candidates
The Guardian Council’s review of the eligibility of presidential election candidates has concluded and their names have been submitted to the Interior Ministry. The Fars News Agency has published two lists of those whose eligibility has been rejected or approved.
The Iran Student News Agency “ISNA” reported the approval of seven presidential election candidates by the Guardian Council.
Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, spokesman of the Guardian Council, while announcing this news, refused to provide clarification regarding reports published by some news agencies about the names of individuals whose eligibility has been approved or rejected.
The Guardian Council spokesman said: “I am not aware of this matter. The Interior Ministry should announce the names.”
Hours before the official announcement of those eligible to participate in the 1400 presidential election, the Fars News Agency published in two separate reports the names of individuals who received final approval from the Guardian Council and the names of those whose eligibility was rejected.
In an article titled “The Council’s Rejection of the Builders of the Current Situation,” this news agency reported the rejection of the eligibility of Ali Larijani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Ishaq Jahangiri. No explanation was provided regarding the “current situation” in this report.
Fars News Agency continued in its report, stating that the rejection of these individuals’ eligibility indicates that the Guardian Council “made this decision regardless of their position and status and did not compromise the law for expediency.”
The same news agency, in another report, claimed that one of its reporters “had access to an unofficial list of final candidates.”
In a list published by Fars News Agency containing those whose eligibility has been approved, the names of these individuals appear: Ebrahim Raisi, Mohsen Rezaei, Mohsen Mehr Alizada, Saeed Jalili, Alireza Zakani, Abdol Nasser Hemmati, and Amirhossein Ghazi-zadeh Hashemi.
The same news agency announced that several candidates for the presidential election have “officially” announced their withdrawal. The names of these individuals were not disclosed.
Source: DW
