Islamabad: May 29, 2021 (TNS): Iran’s powerful election-vetting body, the Guardian Council, has approved seven candidates for the June 18 presidential elections. Iran will go to polls on June 18 to elect a new government as Rouhani’s reformist government completes two terms in office. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has called for a high turnout in the upcoming elections without backing any candidate. However, with top reformists facing disqualification, observers fear the voting turnout may be affected. Pertinently, this year’s election comes at a crucial time with Iran and world powers engaged in negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which the conservatives in Iran have frowned upon.A sitting president cannot run for a third time in succession, according to Iran’s constitution. A total of 592 candidates had earlier this month registered to run in the polls, before their nominations were sent to the Guardian Council for vetting. According to the directive, any candidate must be between 40 and 75 years of age, must possess a master’s degree or its equivalent, must have at least a 4-year experience of management in state organizations, or should have served as a minister, or governor of cities with two-plus million population, or been a top commander of the armed forces with the rank of major general or higher. Hopefuls should also not have any criminal record or jail history.In an announcement on Tuesday, the government body tasked with supervising the vote and vetting candidates, said only seven candidates out of 592 who had registered last week passed the week-long vetting process. Speculation had been rife over the past one week about the likelihood of some key reformist and conservative figures facing disqualification from the Guardian Council, which recently came out with a directive setting new criteria for presidential hopefuls. Key reformist candidates, including Rouhani’s first deputy Ishaq Jahangiri, have been disqualified Abbas Ali Kodkhodaei, a spokesperson for the Guardian Council, said the list has been sent to the Interior Ministry, which will make an official announcement. He, however, did not specify the names of the approved candidates.
buy azithromycin online https://noprescriptionbuyonlinerxx.com/dir/azithromycin.html no prescription
On other day, the semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency published a leaked list of the approved candidates, which included judiciary chief Ebrahim Raeisi, former top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Central Bank AbdolNaser Hemmati, Deputy Parliament Speaker Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh, former vice president Mohsen Mehralizadeh, and former lawmaker Alireza Zakani.The list, however, did not include the names of key reformist candidates, including Ishaq Jahangiri, the first deputy of President Hassan Rouhani.Other heavyweight candidates including former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, and former IRGC commandeer Saeed Mohammad have also been disqualified.The days leading up to registration saw public tiff between the Guardian Council and Rouhani’s office over the new directive.With conservatives well-positioned to seize power from reformists, all eyes would be on how Rouhani’s successor pursues the issue of negotiations and back-channel talks with countries in the neighborhood, including Saudi Arabia. More over upcoming presidential elections are crucial as the change of leadership in Iran, one way or the other, will impact the ongoing nuclear talks. In that, there can be a lull, whilst the momentum of current engagement among the key stakeholders needs to be strengthening to grasp whatever has agreed so far in the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA). while appreciating the EU efforts, panelists at the webinar on ‘JCPOA and International Multilateral Diplomacy’ organized by the Institute of Regional Studies, also called for further change of attitude of both Iran and the US toward each other and show more flexibility.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Imran Sardar, Research Analyst from IRS cautions that the situation in the Middle East and Israel’s strong opposition to the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA) was the naked threats to the success of nuclear talks. While echoing Prof. Reza Takhshid’s words Mr. Sardar said that the change of leadership will not have a significant impact on the ongoing nuclear talks since Iran principally weighs in the JCPOA.
Prof. Dr. Farid Mirgbagheri of Iran called the flexibility in Iranian behavior ‘heroic’ since Iran in the past was adamant ‘not to accept the curtailment of its nuclear program’. He attributed this change to legal lacunas and financial implications for Iran’s economy. However, he was a bit optimistic that trading with Iran would smooth and easy right of the parties reached to an agreement bearing in mind the companies have to readjust refineries again in Iran, which, he said, is a long process since companies are initially would be uncertain and unwilling. Dr. Farid, also claimed that reaching the agreement is also challenging in the first place since the agreement has to go through the US Senate where it might ‘encounter tough questions’ from the opposition. Apart, the enthusiasm from both Iran and the US for not letting the negotiation derailed is indeed welcoming, he said.
While speaking on the occasion, Lt. Gen (Retd) Abdul Qayyum said the situation in the Middle East, and Afghanistan necessitated the urgency to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. He stressed that isolating Iran did not serve the purpose of the US in the past nor will serve again. Gen. Qayyum urged Iran to have a working relationship with the US, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and all Muslim countries. He urged the new leadership in Iran to capitalize on the opportunity to take negotiations in their hands as earliest possible which would certainly squeeze the chances for the hardliners to dictate the negotiating terms with the west.
buy singulair online https://noprescriptionbuyonlinerxx.com/dir/singulair.html no prescription
Dr. Qandeel Abbas, Professor at QAU, criticized the western approach to nuclear proliferation as ‘double standard’ when it comes to deal with Israel and the Indian nuclear program. On the prospects of JCOPA under new leadership in Iran, Dr. Abbas said that as of now, there are expectations that the next president of Iran might come from the hardliners since the unilateral withdrawal of the US has fueled the political factions to take a stringent stance. Dr. Abbas projected the rise of Ibrahim Raisi in Iran, which he said, was the induvial who opposed the Rouhani’s weak stand on the nuclear program and in the JCPOA deal. With the change leadership, the team of negotiators will also be changed which might create problems for a smooth dialogue process, he claimed.
While concluding the session, Mr. Sardar, that serious efforts are required to keep the negotiation away from any frictions as well as the spoilers. Despite, the strong desire of the leadership of both US and Iran for the continuation of the nuclear talks, there are still domestic resistances, and therefore, a working relationship between the two countries on the sideline of Vienna talks is necessary.
