Accessibility links

Breaking News

Iran Reverses Ban On 1,500 Election Candidates

Iran's constitutional watchdog, the hard-line Guardians Council, has reversed a ban on 1,500 candidates who had registered to run in the February 26 parliamentary elections.

Iranian state media said the new list of approved candidates -- now numbering over 6,200 -- had been sent to the Interior Ministry.

Last month, the Guardians Council, a vetting body made up of clerics and jurists, disqualified thousands of moderate and reformist parliamentary candidates and four-fifths of the candidates for the body that will choose Iran's next supreme leader.

That decision sparked a growing dispute between Iran’s hard-liner and reformist factions.

It is unclear how many of the newly approved candidates are considered to be reformists.

The upcoming vote is seen as a showdown between hard-liners and moderates, who hope for a boost in the wake of the newly implemented nuclear deal with world powers and the lifting of international sanctions.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
This item is part of
XS
SM
MD
LG