Political prisoner Mostafa Tajzadeh, a top reformist figure, announced in a letter from jail that the establishment has left no alternative for reformists but to boycott the elections. Tajzadeh writes that the disqualification of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai and other volunteers for the presidential race has simply “left the road open for […]
Tag: rafsanjani
Rejected candidate Rafsanjani addresses supporters
Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Council, says the “extremists” in the Islamic Republic establishment have opposed him since the beginning of the 1979 Iranian Revolution because they find his views on “Islam’s focus on citizens’ rights” intolerable. Rafsanfani spoke on Saturday May 25 to a group of his supporters who had […]
Banned Rafsanjani Blasts Iran’s Leadership
Iran’s former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has taken a parting shot at the country’s leadership days after he was disqualified from running in the upcoming presidential election. The Guardians Council, the powerful election watchdog, omitted Rafsanjani from its final shortlist of candidates. The eight men approved by the 12-member council, which vets all […]
Rafsanjani, Mashaie Barred From Iran’s Presidential Election
Iran state TV and the Fars news agency are reporting that former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a leading ally of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, have been barred from running in the June 14 presidential election. The reports said Rafsanjani and Mashaie were not on the list of candidates vetted by Iran’s […]
Rafsanjani And Mashaei Disqualified From Elections
The Interior Ministry has finally released the results of those who can run for the presidency. Mashaei and Rafsanjani were vetted out. Here is the list: 1) Saeed Jalili 2) GR. Haddad Adel 3) Mohsen Rezaei 4) Hasan Rawhani 5) Mohammad Reza Aref 6) Mohammad Gharazi 7) Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf 8) Ali Akbar Velayati
Election gatekeepers balk at aged candidates
Iran’s Guardian Council has expressed concern about the “physical capabilities” of election candidates and the ability of senior candidates to handle the workload of presidential duties. Abbasali Kadkhodayi, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, said: “One who wants to assume a chief executive post and is only able to put in just a few […]
Multiple last-day entrants in Iran’s presidential race
Just minutes before the deadline on March 11 to register as a presidential candidate, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani made it official that he wants to be the next Iranian president. Meanwhile, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s top aide, also entered the race during the final minutes of the registration period. Today, numerous well known figures […]
High-ranking official calls for “free” elections
Ayatollah Rafsanjani, the head of Iran’s Expediency Council, hsd called on the Islamic Republic establishment to “hold competitive, free elections that follow the letter of the law” and he recommended the exploitation of “skilled, effective and compassionate Revolutionary forces of all tastes” to find a way out of national […]
Faezeh Hashemi placed in solitary
Faezeh Hashemi, the jailed daughter of Iran’s Expediency Council chief, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been sentenced to three weeks in solitary confinement and barred from any visits for “insulting the leader” and “disrupting prison order.”
Senior political figure defends opposition leaders, cleric
Habibollah Asgaroladi, a senior Iranian political figure, has expressed his support for Hashemi Rafsanjani, adding that the Islamic Republic government should not easily give up on the opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.