Selection of Assigned Presidential Candidates in Iran

*Rap Music for the Election*

Presidential Candidates of Iran

Iran's interior ministry warns against electoral violations (Adds more quotes, background)Tehran, June 7, IRNA Iran-Election Iran's Interior Ministry threatened Tuesday to disclose 'startling' tactics which 'certain candidates' had adopted ahead of the presidential election later this month.The ministry's spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani cited cases of 'attack on certain election headquarters and their supporters, involving insult and battery, as well as interference of certain institutions and organizations in the electoral process'."If these violations exceed the limits, we will talk more transparently and expressly in the coming days," the official warned in a news conference."Certain candidates are audaciously throwing the achievements of the (Islamic) Revolution into question," he said, without elaborating.An IRNA correspondent had seen a bevy of cars, carrying posters of a presidential candidate in the upmarket San'at square in northwestern Tehran, with some of them playing loud Western music in broad daylight, much to the surprise of the onlookers."It is surprising that some individuals, who claim to be defending the existing establishment, have resorted to such tactics," Khanjani said."The achievements of the Islamic Revolution must not be brought into question for a handful of extra votes," he added.The Interior Minister spokesman also cited cases of electoral violations, including placing billboards in public sites in the capital, saying the police and municipality had been turning a blind eye to them."During the previous parliamentary election, all the billboards of a certain political current were removed overnight, but it is questionable that this is not the case this time around."Tehran Municipality and Police not only have not cooperated with the Governorate in removing electoral violations, but have refrained from doing so," Khanjani said.The official also cited other cases of violations, including writing graffiti and distributing 'night letters against the candidates' which he said are illegal.Khanjani described interference of armed forces' in the election as 'dangerous', saying cases of such behavior 'have now gone beyond the limit of doubt'.Last month, Interior Minister Adolvahed Moussavi Lari asked military forces to steer clear of the presidential election.In a letter to the Guardian Council, Moussavi Lari protested to remarks attributed to the supervisory body's spokesman who had reportedly said that there was no legal ban on the military forces' intervention in the 'executive and supervisory domains' of the polls.The interior minister has described the remarks as 'the cause of escalating concerns and a note of alarm against the entry of armed forces into the electoral process and a direct threat to a healthy election'.In similar statements in the central city of Shiraz, Moussavi Lari cautioned the volunteer Basij forces against interfering in the election process."Basij, as a military force, cannot interfere in the presidential election and the interference of the Basij members is tantamount to the interference of other armed forces," he said."The whole set of the laws and directives served by the chief commander to all military and police forces has banned the interference of these forces in the elections."According to these laws, none of the members of the Sepah (the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, Basij, army and police, have the right to interfere in the elections," Moussavi Lari added.The Guardian Council has qualified eight candidates, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to run in the June 17 election.The other qualified candidates are former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ex-police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as well as Mohsen Rezaei, the former commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, and the former head of the state broadcasting Ali Larijani.Two other candidates, former higher education minister Mostafa Moin and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh, were reinstated after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asked the Guardian Council to clear them.The two were among more than 1,000 aspirants who were disqualified from the election as the Guardian Council expressed frustration with the high number of registrations.Moussavi Lari also called on supporters of the candidates to observe 'legal norms' in the electoral campaigning."There are rules for campaigning which have been defined by law, and if there are not respected...this will lead to general disappointment among the public," he said.Rafsanjani's office had earlier denied that the veteran politician was pulling out of the June 17 presidential election.In a statement a copy of which was faxed to IRNA, the office said reports about Rafsanjani's intention to withdraw his candidacy 'lacked authenticity'."Certain currents ... are stoking up rumors about possible pullout of Hashemi Rafsanjani from the 9th presidential election and using rumor-mongering devices to spread them in the society which are not true at all," it said."Hashemi Rafsanjani's decision to participate at the election came after months of rumination and consultations ... and by registering he has stepped onto an irreversible road," the statement added.As a matter of fact, Rafsanjani held Iranians on tenterhook after dropping a hint to make a comeback, but falling short of making a clear announcement.He described presidential candidacy a bitter pill which he had to swallow."The issue of presidency is among the current preoccupations of my mind and although I would like someone else to accept this responsibility, I think I have to take this bitter medicine," he said.Electoral campaigning began on the morning of May 25 but few hours later hackers targeted Larijani's website, defacing his home page which resulted in its subsequent crash.The site www.larijani.ir was attacked by 'unknown elements during which main contents of the site were hacked and replaced with other sentences and minutes later the site totally crashed', the official in charge of the website announced."Ill manners like these unfortunately come in the early days of the electoral campaigning, serve as a warning to the related officials," he added.Larijani's electoral headquarters had also to deny reports that he intended to pull out of the race in favor of other candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani."Unfortunately, this news is mostly being reported in the press by the supporters of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani," it said in a statement, denouncing the report as part of a 'psychological war'.
Iran students boo Rafsanjani ally at election rally 7 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 07 – Students heckled and taunted the chancellor of Tehran’s Open University after as he attempted to give a speech, calling on students to vote for former Iranian president and strongman Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the upcoming June 17 presidential elections.Public hangings continue in Iran’s volatile oil city 6 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 06 - A group of Iranians were handed down harsh sentences ranging from execution and amputation of limbs to lashes and prison time, accused of armed robbery, according to today’s edition of the state-run Kayhan daily. A court in the city of Ahwaz (southern Khuzestan province) announced that three individuals charged with “armed robbery” from the group of thirteen were sentenced to execution.Human trafficking not being combated in Iran: US State Dept 6 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Washington, DC, Jun. 06 – Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation, according to the 2005 annual Trafficking in Persons Report released by the United States’ Department of State. The DoS Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons noted that “the Government of Iran does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking”.
Iran campus hunger strike spreading 6 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 06 – Students in Payam-Nour University of Ardebil (northwest Iran) began a hunger strike, protesting the arrests of fellow student activists. In the latest in a string of university hunger strikes across the country, students in Payam-Nour University announced in a statement, “In memory of those who could use their wealth of knowledge ..
.Iran weblogger jailed for 'insulting' supreme leader 6 Jun 2005AFP: An Iranian weblogger arrested in a crackdown against online dissent has been sentenced to two years behind bars for "insulting the supreme leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his lawyer told AFP Monday. Mojtaba Saminejad "still faces charges of insulting the prophet and spreading curruption, which could cost him more jail terms," lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh said.
Blair to head for talks with Bush on Iran 6 Jun 2005Iran Focus: London, Jun. 06 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair will fly to Washington for talks with United States President George W Bush on Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East peace process. Downing Street today announced the trip, with the two leaders’ discussion expected to begin tonight and continue on Tuesday.
Iran university students on hunger strike as protests rise 6 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 06 – Students in the University of Yazd (central Iran) have started a hunger strike today in protest against a recent government clampdown on student activists. The students said they began their hunger strike after recent threats by the authorities against them. A number of students have been arrested by the secret police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, on bogus charges.
Iran prepared to walk out of nuclear talks, official warns 6 Jun 2005AFP: Iran is still awaiting a calendar for new talks with the European Union over its nuclear programme and is prepared to quit the process if the timetable is not to its liking, a negotiator said on Monday. "If the negotiators do not give us a response, this will mean an end to all of this," Ali Agha Mohammadi told the ISNA student news agency. "This current round of negotiations is the last chance.
"OPEC may raise output, Iran against it 6 Jun 2005Reuters: OPEC oil producers may opt to raise output when they meet next week due to rising political pressure, although Iran will lobby the cartel to trim oversupply instead, the country's OPEC governor told a newspaper. Bucking the trend of members looking to leave production unchanged on June 15, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said it wanted the group to pull production back to official quota levels.
Iran: 500 former Iraq-based MeK members reject abuse claims 5 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Washington, DC, Jun. 05 – Over 500 former members and supporters of an Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI / MeK), signed an open letter to New York-based Human Rights Watch rejecting allegations of abuse by the group, the PMOI’s Persian-language website reported. The petition was signed by former members who all now live in North America and Europe, and it was delivered to HRW’s headquarters by a delegation from the signatories.Iran sets new conditions on maintaining nuclear freeze 5 Jun 2005AFP: A senior Iranian official said Sunday that Tehran has only conditionally agreed to EU demands it maintain a suspension of sensitive nuclear activities until the end of July, the official news agency IRNA reported. "Iran has conditionally agreed to the EU offer, and Europe has until the end of July to provide a complete proposal with details," Supreme National Security Council offical Ali Agha Mohammadi was quoted as saying.
EU, US stand firm on Iran abandoning nuclear fuel cycle work: diplomats 4 Jun 2005AFP: The EU and the United States remain committed to Iran giving up uranium enrichment work that could be used to make atomic weapons and want to clear up any confusion over this with Tehran, diplomats said Saturday. A trio of European Union negotiators, Britain, France and Germany, are to try to clear up an apparent misunderstanding over the US position on uranium enrichment as explained by President George W. Bush on Tuesday, diplomats said.
Prominent US lawyer censures Human Rights Watch for Iran dissidents report 4 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Washington, DC, Jun. 04 – A United States lawyer representing members of the main Iranian opposition group, the Iraq-based People’s Mojahedin, censured New York-based Human Rights Watch for a report that alleged the group mistreated its members in a letter to its director. Professor Steven M. Schneebaum of Greenberg Traurig Law, who served on the Board of Directors of the International Human Rights Law Group, wrote, “I must confess that I have never before had to censure a human rights organization for procedural flaws and substantively incorrect results in its work.
Senior mullah: Mecca riot work of Iranian intelligence 4 Jun 2005Iran Terror Website: Tehran, Jun. 04 – Iranian government agencies were responsible for planning the 1986 attack on Islam's holiest site Mecca in Saudi Arabia and the 1987 riots which left some 500 Iranian pilgrims dead, an Iranian presidential candidate and former Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Mehdi Karroubi said.
Iran political prisoners plan hunger strike against undemocratic elections 4 Jun 2005Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 04 – Political prisoners in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison announced yesterday in a jointstatement that they were going to go on hunger strike to protest what they called the “sham undemocratic [June 17 presidential] elections” and the “lack of respect for human rights in Iran”.