In an interview with France 24 released on Wednesday, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei underlined the need for making a distinction between people legitimately protesting over “issues related to livelihood and the economy” and terrorists and saboteurs.

“We have to be able to separate those who were protesting for their livelihood — they have to be honored, we must listen to their concerns and see what their problems are — and those who committed terrorist acts and sabotage,” he said.

The official also stressed that during last month’s unrest, security forces took action against “disturbances.”

Iran “has always listened with open ears to peaceful protesters; the authorities must respond to the people’s rightful demands,” he said. “But naturally, when there are disturbances — vandalism, attacks against government centers and the destruction of people’s property — it is the duty of security forces and police to take action, and naturally during these operations, …incidents can happen.”

Kadkhodaei further noted that the analysis of the events in Iran from abroad “is not always the correct.”

He further defended the nationwide internet shutdown during the protests and said, “If there’s a road or a freeway and terrorists come and do something, what’s the first thing you will do to the freeway? You will shut it down.”

In mid-November, the Iranian government raised gasoline prices in order to moderate the national consumption rate.

The move prompted protests in a number of cities that went largely peaceful, but turned violent when some took advantage of the situation to vandalize public and state property, and attack civilians and security forces alike.

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Article 59 states: In considering vital economic, political, social, and cultural issues, it is possible that the legislative power is exercised through referendum or reference to direct public vote. The request to appeal to public votes must be approved by two-thirds of the entire representatives of the Assembly.

Addressing a meeting on constitution review on Sunday night, Abbas Ali Kadkhoda’ei said, “The review (of constitution) is not an impossible issue but at first we must utilize the entire capacities of the constitution, including the Article 59, and if the mentioned article could not solve the problem we would resort to amending the constitution.”

“Sometimes, some of the words are used in a way which shows a deadlock. Sometimes, we feel fear from the mentioned words,” he said, adding, “We must not consider evolution and improvement as impossible principles.”

“Some say that the constitution’s articles lack the capability of being changed, and it is an agreeable issue. In fact, we agree, based on the current constitution, to say some of the articles lack the capability of change. In my idea even such articles can go under review if the society is in need of such change,” Kadkhoda’ei added.

“In France, it is said that the republicanism can’t be changed according to the principle the people once agreed on and are now obeying that agreement. We, in Iran, had some religious principles that are stipulated in the constitution which are mentioned as unchangeable principles. Of course, it is possible to change them at another time. Now, within the framework of the constitution, the mentioned principles are unchangeable,” Kadkhoda’ei explained.

In May the ILNA news agency quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying that a referendum on the country’s nuclear program “could offer a breakthrough”.

The Iranian president in a meeting with media managers in Tehran was answering a question when he said that Article 59of constitution could “unblock” difficult situations. He added, “The question of when we should utilize this Article or when in the past we should have used it, is a different matter”.

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Abas Ali Kadkhodaei, who also serves as the deputy secretary-general of the council, wrote that time for registration of candidates ended on Saturday evening and “more than 16,000 candidates register for the 11th parliamentary election.”

He said, “Monitoring and executive teams will review the competency of the registered candidates and will announce the final list according to the constitution.”

On December 1, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei advised potential parliamentary candidates not to run for the elections “if you don’t have management capabilities.”

Jamal Orf, the Interior Ministry director for election headquarters, announced on Sunday that 248 sitting MPs and 633 former MPs have registered to run for parliament.

The Leader criticized the way many people register for the elections, saying now that potential candidates can register for the parliamentary elections, a lot of people go ahead and register without hesitation.

Every responsibility or position requires certain commitments, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“You have to see if you can make that commitment,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Interior Ministry started registering candidates for the parliamentary elections on December 8. It ended on December 7.

The election will be held on February 21, 2020.

The elections will be held in over 200 constituencies across the country’s 31 provinces.

The Guardian Council will release the names of candidates deemed eligible to run by December 18.

Disqualified candidates will have four days to object to the Guardian Council, after which the council will study complaints and announce the final list on February 11.

The candidates will have 8 days to spend on the campaign trail, ending on February 19, and then the elections will be held on February 21.

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