NCRI – The Guardian Council might approve as many as 40 candidates for the June 14 election, the Council’s spokesman said on Sunday.
The Guardian Council, whose members are appointed by Khamenei, is currently vetting 686 potential candidates, and is expected to announce the list of approved candidates on May 21.
Asr-e Iran newspaper has quoted cleric Jaffar Shajouni as saying on Thursday: “Hopefully Rafsanjani will be eliminated. If the Guardian Council does not disqualify him, then the people will reject him.”
And the cleric said of Mashaei: “Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei has failed. What a disaster if Mashaei becomes our president! Mashaei will definitely be excluded. The president has also failed.”
Meanwhile Guardian Council member Mohammad Yazdi has revealed that he was asked to take a tough line against candidates during their verification process, Asr-e Iran reported on Thursday.
Guardian Council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei has also attempted to head off any back-lash after Mashaei is disqualified, saying: “No one is allowed to object the final decision of the Guardian Council. The Guardian Council only considers a few eligible and objecting to the result is meaningless.”
The Guardian Council is made up of six experts in ‘Islamic law’, who are all selected by the Supreme Leader, and six judges selected by the parliament – but who were also appointed as judges by the Supreme Leader.
