Iran president slams removal of candidates from elections

Iran's president Wednesday slammed disqualification of thousands of people, including 90 current lawmakers, from running in upcoming parliamentary elections.

Although hard-liners were among those disqualified by powerful Guardian Council, most of those rejected were reformist and moderate candidates, according to Tehran's reformist newspaper Etem.

President Hassan Rouhani appeared to confirm this in his stinging critique of council, which barred more than 9,000 from over 14,000 people who h registered to run. Among m are 90 sitting lawmakers out of some 247 who registered to run for re-election.

Rouhani said it is t possible to run country with just one faction in power.

“Do t tell people that for every seat in parliament, re are 17, 170 or 1,700 candidates running in election,” he said in a televised speech to Cabinet. “Seventeen-hundred candidates from how many factions? Seventeen candidates from how many parties? From one party? This is t an election.”

He compared it to a store placing 1,000 copies of same item on its shelves and telling customers y have a diverse selection to pick from.

“People need diversity,” Rouhani said.

Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kkhodaei criticized Rouhani's remarks. In a tweet, he said that controversy around vetting of candidates is thing new, “but president’s initiation of this anti-national project is regrettable.”

Kkhodaei furr quipped: "Of course, I did t kw that disqualification of relatives means omitting or factions.” Reportedly Rouhani's son-in-law is among those barred from running.

Feb. 21 elections are seen as a test for popularity of relatively moderate and pro-reform bloc led by Rouhani, which has struggled to deliver on campaign promises to improve people's lives as Iran's ecomy buckles under weight of U.S. ecomic sanctions.

President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran after he withdrew U.S. from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers — a deal that was championed and signed by Rouhani. Tensions with United States could strengn hard-liners by reinforcing long-held distrust of West.

Tensions spiked furr after a U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top general earlier this month led to a tense confrontation in which Iranian forces accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane after it took off from Tehran, killing 176 people. shoot down, and attempts by officials to initially conceal cause of crash, sparked protests in Iran.

Guardian Council says that most of lawmakers who were barred from re-election were disqualified due to “financial problems,” a reference to embezzlement and corruption.

council is comprised of senior clerics and legal experts, half of whom are appointed by Supreme Leer Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It vets candidates for office as well as legislation, and rules out individuals if it believes ir views or behavior are incompatible with ocratic system.

Up for grabs will be 290 parliamentary seats. While elected body serves as a place for debate and government scrutiny, supreme leer has final say on all major policies.