Last week, the Guardian Council barred more than 600 other declared candidates for president from the ballot. The Council is made up of religious and legal experts. Six of its 12 members are appointed by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
The group blocked former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and all thirty women candidates from appearing on the 2013 presidential ballot. Last week, American Secretary of State John Kerry criticized the restrictions.
“That is hardly an election by standards which most people in most countries judge free, fair, open, accessible, accountable elections.”
On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned what it called efforts to deny Iranian citizens information before the elections. The following day, United Nations special representative Maina Kiai urged Iran to release more than 40 reporters from jail. His comments came as the Iranian news agency Mehr reported that Iran’s culture minister plans more restrictions on foreign reporters.
Separately, UN officials said that barring all women candidates violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Last weekend, exiled Iranians met at Sweden’s parliament building in Stockholm. The opposition group condemned an election process the exiles called “an insult to Iranians.” The gathering was organized by the coalition called United for Democracy in Iran or UDI. Iran’s state-operated media described the UDI call for free elections as an excuse for military intervention in Iran.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25