News

Number of applicants for Iran parliament seats surpasses 10,000

Dec 26 2015
Iran
Source: 
The Iran Project

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – More than ten thousand Iranians have registered as of Friday noon to run for a seat in the parliament in elections slated for late February, an official announced.

Interior Ministry Spokesperson Hossein Ali Amiri said on Friday that 10,004 persons have registered to run in the parliamentary elections, 960 of whom are women.

Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli had announced that the number of female applicants have risen by 3 percent compared to the previous term.

Jannati: Guardian Council to observe freedom in elections

Dec 25 2015
Iran
Source: 
The Iran Project

Tehran, Dec 25, IRNA – Tehran’s Friday Prayers substitute Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said that Guardian Council will observe law, tranquility and freedom in the upcoming elections.

Referring to the Majlis (parliament) and Assembly of Experts elections, the ayatollah said in his second sermon here on Friday that election is honor of Islam, Muslim and the regime, so it should be held widely, securely and differences should not have any affect on election.

Rafsanjani signs up list of candidacy for Experts Assembly election

Dec 21 2015
Iran
Source: 
The Iran Project

Tehran, Dec 21, IRNA – Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Monday registered for the 5th Experts Assembly election, slated for February.

Speaking to reporters, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said the Experts Assembly is the pivot, basis and pillar of Islamic Revolution.

He said in the next few months, the new Experts Assembly and Majlis will be formed – both playing key role in country’s destiny.

He added those winning public votes will shoulder grave responsibility.

 

Iran ‘examining’ possible successors to Khamenei

Dec 14 2015
Iran
Source: 
The Times of Israel

Iran has begun looking for a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a top Iranian official said Sunday.

In comments translated by Reuters, former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told the country’s ILNA news agency that the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for electing the Islamic republic’s supreme leader, “will act when a new leader needs to be appointed. They are preparing for that now and are examining the options.”

Iran's parliament backs nuclear deal

Oct 13 2015
Iran
Source: 
BBC

Iran's parliament has approved a deal on its nuclear programme agreed with six world powers, state media say.

The deal was passed with 161 votes in favour, 59 against and 13 abstentions, the official IRNA news agency said.

However, parliament insisted that international inspectors would have only limited access to military sites.

The agreement, struck in July, authorises the lifting of sanctions in return for Iran curbing sensitive nuclear activities.

Leader ends debate over council’s role in elections

Sep 10 2015
Iran
Source: 
Radio Zamaneh

Following efforts by President Hassan Rohani to limit the role of the Guardian Council in the elections, Iran’s Supreme Leader sided with the conservatives, emphasizing the legitimacy of the Guardian Council as the final authority on the election process.

In a speech on Wednesday September 9, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the importance of the approaching parliamentary elections and maintained that all elections under the Islamic Republic regime have been legitimate and without reproach.

Assembly chief claims authority over elections for Guardian Council

Sep 02 2015
Iran
Source: 
Radio Zamaneh

In response to President Hassan Rohani’s statements about the limited role of the Guardian Council in the elections, the head of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, said on Tuesday September 1 that the council has jurisdiction over the approval of candidates.

At the meeting of the Assembly of Experts on September 1, new chairman Ayatollah Yazdi referred to the two upcoming elections. Without naming the president, he said the Executive Branch is changed with running the elections and the Guardian Council is charged with monitoring them.

Head of new reformist party briefly arrested

Aug 31 2015
Iran
Source: 
Radio Zamaneh

Fars News Agency reported on Monday morning that Ali Shakourirad, the head of the newly formed reformist party, Union of Islamic Nation of Iran, was reportedly arrested on August 31. Later news of the day, reflected in some media outlets such as Kaleme website, reported that Shakourirad was released on bail on Monday evening.

The charges for the arrest were reportedly described as past offences and persistence in “seditious” activities.

Interior ministry says new reformist party needs permit for political activity

Aug 31 2015
Iran
Source: 
Radio Zamaneh

Iran’s Ministry of Interior announced on Monday August 31 that the Union of Islamic Nation of Iran does not have the necessary permit to begin political activities.

Mehr News Agency reported on Monday that Hossein Ali Amiri, a spokesman for the interior ministry said: “The procedure is such that the Article 10 Commission issues a permit to establish the party. However this permit is only sufficient to form the party. The permit to begin political activities has to be then issued by the ministry of interior.”

Head of new Reformist group in Iran resigns from party

Aug 24 2015
Iran
Source: 
Al Monitor

Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Kharazi, the seasoned Iranian diplomat who started his own Reformist bloc ahead of the 2016 parliamentary elections, has suddenly and dramatically resigned from the party. The resignation comes shortly after Kharazi gave a controversial interview in which he threatened to name Reformist figures under the Mohammad Khatami administration who had a relationship with US officials in New York.

New reformist party meets

Aug 22 2015
Iran
Source: 
IRNA

Tehran, Aug 22, IRNA - A new reformist party held its first congress in the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday.

During the meeting, Ali Shakouri-Rad was elected as the secretary general of Union of Islamic Iran People Party, IRNA reported.

A total of 30 political activists are members of the central council of the party that recently got a license form the Interior Ministry to launch its activities in the country.

It is said that most members of the new party are former members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front that was banned in 2009.

Rouhani call for greater electoral plurality may presage rising post-Iran deal domestic tensions

Aug 21 2015
Iran
Source: 
Iran Politik

Hassan Rouhani has called for the Council of Guardians to take a supervisory rather than executive role in vetting candidates in elections. But this may have more to do with the Iranian president’s fears of disqualification of his allies than a desire for greater electoral plurality.

In a speech on Wednesday 19 August 2015, Hassan Rouhani called for a more cautious Iranian foreign policy and for the Council of Guardians (CoG) to take a more limited, supervisory, role in vetting election candidates.

Reformists call for fairness in vetting Assembly candidates

Aug 13 2015
Iran
Source: 
Radio Zamaneh

A number of Iranian reformist figures have met with Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi and Ayatollah Mohammad Momen, members of the Guardian Council, to discuss concerns about the council disqualifying reformist candidates from running in the next Assembly of Experts elections.

The Guardian Council determines the eligibility of candidates to run in the elections based on constitutional provisions; however, it has often been accused by reformist and moderate factions of the Islamic Republic establishment of bias toward conservative candidates.

Interior Minister Puts Number of Likely Election Candidates at 4,000

Aug 10 2015
Iran
Source: 
Fars News Agency
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli announced that almost 4,000 people are likely to declare candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections early 2016.

"There are signs and indications that some 4,000 people plan to declare their candicacy in the elections," Rahmani Fazli told reporters in Tehran on Monday.

He predicted that the upcoming parliamentary and Experts Assembly elections would be a scene of hot rivalries.

Pages