Iran Council Reverses Itself

Iran’s hard-line Guardian Council reversed itself Tuesday and said two reformists it had disqualified from the June 17 presidential election could run after all.

The reinstatement of Mostafa Moin, a former minister of science, research and technology, and Mohsen Mehralizadeh, vice president in charge of sports, raised the number of candidates to eight and made the election outcome harder to predict.

The move followed the intervention of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word in all state matters. On Monday, Khamenei took the unusual step of urging the Guardian Council to overturn its disqualification of the two men.

Khamenei has said a range of candidates is essential to encourage high voter turnout. Low turnout could undermine the ruling Islamic establishment at home and weaken its position in crucial negotiations with Europeans over Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

On Sunday, the Guardian Council disqualified more than 1,000 would-be candidates, clearing just six to run. The move seemed to all but guarantee that a conservative would be elected to replace the outgoing Mohammad Khatami, whose attempts at reform were thwarted.

The front-runner in the race is thought to be former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. But he may face a serious challenge from the newly reinstated Moin, an outspoken reformist who is the candidate of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the nation’s largest reformist party.

A popular figure among students, Moin had focused his campaign on the nation’s restive university campuses and promised to tackle human rights abuses if elected.

The other reinstated candidate, Mehralizadeh, is not considered a strong contender.