• “There are no restrictions and no law on the nomination and assessment of women candidates.”
  – Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaye, Guardian Council spokesman, quoted by Mehr News Agency, April 11

  Reversing previous statements by the Guardian Council, the appointed body that approves candidates for elections, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaye, council spokesman, said that the Guardian Council is open to receiving nominations of women for the presidential polls. Previous spokesman Gholamhossein Elham had stated that the Iranian constitution only allowed men to compete for the presidency. Among women who are expected to submit their nominations are former members of parliament Raf’at Bayat and Azam Taleqani, as well as Ma’soumeh Ebtekar, who served as Iran’s first female vice president under Mohammad Khatami.  In his April 11 statement, Kadkhodaye also said that the Guardian Council does not make decisions based upon the gender of potential candidates. However, the Council has previously rejected on Islamic grounds the candidacies of all women nominated to run for president.

• “The Iranian President’s senior advisor has formally resigned.  Analysts believe that this has been done in order for him to get ready to become Ahmadinejad’s campaign manager.”
  – Headline in the leftist Sarmayeh newspaper, April 14

  Although the reasons for the resignation of Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi have not been confirmed, speculation is that he will assume the post of campaign manager for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election campaign. In a letter published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Samareh Hashemi said that he was resigning to “have an opportunity to serve in other areas.” Samareh Hashemi had served as a senior advisor to the president and as deputy interior minister for political affairs.  He also has ties to Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, the hard-line cleric who is Ahmadinejad’s spiritual advisor, as well as to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.  Under Iranian law, the president’s advisors or other senior members of his administration must resign from their offices before engaging in election campaigning.

• “Election supervision committee ‘illegal’”
  – Headline on the Iranian-run English language Press TV website, April 15

  The Interior Ministry rejected a proposal raised by reformist candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi to establish a Committee to Safeguard Election Votes, comprised of representatives of all presidential candidates, saying that it “has no doubt that the elections will be free and fair.” The proposal came as a result of candidates’ concerns regarding potential election manipulation based upon past allegations of vote tampering, counting fraud and other election violations, as well as the recent move to staff the elections board with representatives from outside the Ministry of Interior. Under Iranian law, candidate agents are permitted to observe voting and counting procedures at polling stations. In the 2008 parliamentary elections, each political group was allowed two observers at every polling station, and the Ministry of Interior had 45,000 election observers under its supervision. Independent domestic or international monitoring of elections is not permitted.

• “Ahmadinejad to run as independent hopeful”
  – Headline on Press TV website, April 15

  “There is a lot of different and controversial information about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s campaign”
  – Headline on reformist Aftab website, April 14

  Similar to 2005, Ahmadinejad’s advisors indicate that he will run as an independent in the upcoming elections; he has not officially declared his candidacy but is expected to run. Rumors are that Ahmadinejad will not establish a formal campaign or campaign headquarters as a means of demonstrating his frugality in tough economic times. Instead, he is expected to rely upon a network of supporters to establish local campaign branches, many of whom began planning campaign activities last month.

• “There should be no arguments or different opinions in the case of supporting Mir-Hossein Mousavi for president.”
  – Kargozaran (Executives of Construction) party spokesman quoted by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), April 17

  While reformist rivals Karroubi and Mousavi continue to vie for the presidency, reformist parties have begun lining up behind Mousavi. The Executives of Construction party, founded by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani; the Militant Clerics Society, founded by Karroubi; Islamic Iran Participation Party, formerly led by Mohammad Reza Khatami the brother of the former president; and the Association of Combatant Clerics, led by former President Mohammad Khatami, all officially declared that they would support Mousavi in the election. In addition, the Coordination Council of the Reformist Party, which includes more than 20 reformist parties and groups under its umbrella, also announced its backing for Mousavi. The parties have emphasized that Mousavi is the more qualified candidate based upon his tenure as prime minister. The Coordination Council added that “we believe that the characteristics, records, capabilities and the ideas of Mir-Hossein Mousavi can settle the current deficiencies in the management of the country.” Breaking with the trend, however, the Islamic Council of Teachers refuted the apparent unified support among reformists for Mousavi, saying that his two decade absence from the political scene has alienated him from young reformers.

• “Mohsen Rezai announces candidacy in presidential election”
  – Headline on the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) website, April 22

  “Rezaei has not yet made any decision regarding his candidacy and will issue a statement in the coming days about this issue.”
  – from an Expediency Council statement quoted by ISNA, April 23

  Mohsen Rezai, secretary of the Expediency Council and former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, appeared at last to be officially announcing his candidacy as an independent in the presidential elections. However, just a day later reports were that he was still on the fence. Speculation is that he may still lead a pragmatic conservative coalition, but no official word has come from that faction. In other candidate news, Abdoallah Nouri, who had been considering a bid for the presidency from the reformist camp, announced that he would not run.

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Published on April 24, 2009