Iranian reformists pledge to fight elections exclusion

Los Angeles Times

Moderate Iranian politicians barred from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections pledged Thursday to fight their disqualifications and threatened to boycott the vote in an attempt to wrest at least one branch of government from conservative hard-liners.

This week, Iranian election authorities barred nearly one-third of the 7,240 candidates applying to run in March 14 legislative elections. Officials said some were involved in embezzlement or fraud, sympathized with terrorist groups or had a "tendency toward perverted cults."

But among those banned were many members of the so-called reformist camp that tried to change Iran's political culture in the late 1990s. They promised to challenge their rejections by Iran's Guardian Council, a committee of six clerics and six lawyers who vet all political candidates and laws for adherence to Islamic principles.

"Now, only 30 percent of our candidates are able to stand, which does not guarantee a fair and free election," said Esmail Gerami-Moghadam, a parliament member who belongs to the National Trust, a reform group headed by former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi. "We will wait 10 days from now to see the result of our petitions for requalification. Then we'll decide whether to participate or boycott the election."

Barred were 230 of about 300 candidates put up by the National Trust group; 190 of 200 candidates of the main reform group, the Islamic Participation Front; and all candidates of the Mujahedeen of the Islamic Revolution, another organization that opposes the hard-liners.

Rejected candidates have until Sunday to file appeals to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been unsympathetic to the reformists' cause, refusing to qualify candidates barred from 2004 elections. A final list of candidates will be issued March 5.

Khamenei heads a theocratic state with elements of a democratic republic, including regular elections for parliament and the presidency. Iran's political elite pride themselves on high turnout, and a boycott by reformist groups could harm the vote's credibility.

Iranian authorities have ruled out allowing international observers to monitor the election.

Iran's leadership is divided among several factions, including a hard-line conservative group around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a so-called pragmatic faction close to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, and a more liberal wing represented by former President Mohammed Khatami.

Iran's Constitution does not recognize political parties. But authorities permit some political groups to form and even fund some organizations loyal to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. These groups contend for power and influence, though ultimate authority rests in the hands of Khamenei.

The 290-seat parliament, called the Majlis, has the power to propose and pass legislation and to rein in the president, as it did during Khatami's eight-year tenure. Ahmadinejad usually manages to muster a slight majority in parliament for his policies. But a reformist swell could challenge the president's socially repressive domestic program and ideologically charged international policies.

The president fared poorly in last year's municipal elections, and hard-liners have sharpened their rhetoric against liberals, accusing them of being dupes for the United States, Iran's enemy since the revolution.

"America supports every group that operates within its interests," the conservative daily Siasat-e-Ruz, or Politics of the Day, said in an editorial Thursday. "Since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, America supported the reformists and the question is, 'Why?' "

But Ahmadinejad also faces a mounting challenge from the right.

Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, the parliament speaker, recently took issue with the president over the budget and Constitution. Former nuclear negotiators Hassan Rowhani and Ali Larijani, both powerful conservative politicians, former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian and former Foreign Minister Akbar Velayati are contending for parliamentary seats. All are opponents of Ahmadinejad.

Larijani is backed by conservatives who approve of Ahmadinejad's policies but despise his tone, inflammatory rhetoric and high international profile.

"I decided to run for the elections on the advice of supreme clerics," Larijani said after he registered for the elections.

In another development Thursday, a draft U.N. Security Council resolution calls for tough penalties against Iran over its nuclear activities, a senior U.S. diplomat said, rejecting Russia's contention that the document does not include harsh sanctions.

Nicholas Burns, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, said there will be several weeks of debate before the 15-member Security Council votes on the resolution. But the council's five permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - approved the draft Tuesday, and Burns said he is confident it will pass.

Burns said Iran's nuclear program was the main topic during his talks Thursday with Israeli officials in the framework of strategic cooperation.

He said the resolution is "meant to be punitive," rejecting Russia's assertion Wednesday that it will not punish Iran further for failing to comply with requirements to stop enriching uranium and allow inspection of its nuclear facilities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.