NCRI – A member of the Iranian regime’s parliament (Majlis), Ali Motahari has openly defied Ali Khamenei by publicly demanding that the Supreme Leader re-instate Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as a candidate in the June presidential election.
A letter by Motahari was published on an Iranian website this week branding Rafsanjani’s disqualification as ‘illegitimate’ – but minutes later the website deleted the letter, which still exists on Internet social network sites.
The demand is the latest sign of the growing rifts among the rulers of the theocratic dictatorship, where all the presidential candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council, a body effectively appointed by Khamenei.
The letter said: “I strongly believe that if Khomeini was alive and had participated in the election with a fake name, he also would have been disqualified for his critical views.
“The disqualification of Ayatollah Rafsanjani was decided for two illegitimate reasons, physical weakness and engagement in the 2009 sedition.”
Directly addressing Khamenei, he went on: “I suggest you to verify him with a directives to create the field of candidates needed for the ‘political epic’ recommended by you as leader.”
But Motahari – a harsh critic of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – said there was no need to reverse the disqualification for his preferred candidate Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.
He added: “There is no need to do the same for Mashaei because these two have nothing in common. Mashaie’s disqualification due to non-Islamic beliefs was the right thing. However, disqualification for holding critical views is not.”
In an interview with the state-run Mehr news agency, Motahari later compared the backgrounds of approved candidate Saeed Jalili with the disqualified candidates, adding: “Why did Jalili qualify when he has the least experience? Could someone become a president after just four meetings and negotiations with Mrs Ashton?
“This issue shows that the Guardian Council’s approach was more political than about the law and beliefs. They have mentioned two reasons for the disqualification of Rafsanjani – physical weakness and engagement in the sedition – and both are fallacious.
“I suggest you to hold a 100 meter running race between Rafsanjani and Jalili, and a wrestling contest with Hadad Adel to evaluate Rafsanjani’s physical fitness.”
Asked whether he expected the election to be a success, he added: “I don’t think that the political epic hoped for by the leader will occur because huge participation and excitement will only happen when there is a majority of candidates from different sides of the debate. However, when all the candidates come from one or two parties, such a thing will not happen.”
