Iran Leader Orders Review of Disqualified Candidates

Iran’s supreme leader agreed to a formula Wednesday that is expected to reinstate most of the thousands of parliamentary candidates who were disqualified from running, handing reformists a victory in their election battle with hard-line Islamic clerics.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in attempting a compromise to resolve the standoff over the election scheduled for Feb. 20, ordered that the reformist-led Intelligence Ministry review the disqualifications issued by the Guardian Council, said government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh.

Reza Yousefian, a reformist lawmaker who is among those banned from the ballot, said, “The government agreed to hold the elections and the leaders decided the Intelligence Ministry will review the disqualifications and that its decision will not be overruled.”

That is significant because the Guardian Council, appointed by Khamenei, has so far resisted all compromise efforts.

As the country’s supreme leader, Khamenei has the final say on all matters.

Reformists, including President Mohammad Khatami, had threatened to either boycott or refuse to hold the vote, which they said would be undemocratic because nearly a third of the candidates were removed from the ballots. All of those removed are reformists.

It was the second time in a month that Khamenei ordered a review of the disqualification of the lawmakers, 80 of whom were members of parliament.

Some candidates were reinstated previously, but more than 2,400 remained banned.

Reformists campaigned for weeks with protests that preceded the resignation Sunday of 125 members of the 290-seat parliament.

On Tuesday, Khamenei was reported to have rejected a request by Khatami to postpone the elections.