“It is necessary to announce my thanks and praise and those of the members of the Guardian Council to the recent speech by the Leader. He has always backed the position and performance of the Guardian Council in different times and this has heartened us,” Jannati told a meeting of the council.

The Guardian Council confirmed seven candidates to run for the presidential post. The names of the confirmed candidates were announced by the Interior Ministry on May 25.

In a speech to the parliament through videoconference on May 28, the Leader said, “The honorable Guardian Council did what it deemed necessary according to its responsibility.” Ayatollah Khamenei also thanked those candidates who respected the decisions of the Guardian Council despite the fact that their competence was not confirmed.

In his Wednesday remarks, the Guardian Council chief also said the people are facing major economic problems and the low-income classes are under heavy pressure.

He said anyone who wins the elections should take immediate measure to reduce economic pressure on the masses.

The presidential election will be held on June 18. Some predict that the election may go to a second round.

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“The ruling in question has no basis and lacks any objective evidence and reason,” ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

“Given that the verdict is available online, we invite those interested in such issues to study the court ruling to realize that it is groundless,” Khatibzadeh added.

However, the spokesman said, it is not surprising to see that Canada disregards the fundamental and basic legal principles, given the overall behavior of the country with regards to the air accident.

He further dismissed as “regrettable” Canada’s behavior with regards to the Ukrainian plane incident and the “completely politically-tainted” approach adopted by Canada during the course of the legal proceedings in the country.

The Ukrainian passenger plane was mistaken for an invading missile. The tragic incident happened after Iran fired missiles at a U.S. military based in western Iraq in response to the assassination of Iranian Lt. General Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad’s international airport.

“By following in the footsteps of American courts, this Canadian court first named the accused, and then resorted to whatever relevant or irrelevant information available in public sources, especially in the cyberspace, to find a reason for its biased and pre-determined mentality,” Khatibzadeh added.

He reminded Ottawa that such politically-motivated and vexatious moves will have no outcome other than disrupting the legal order ruling international aviation law and undercutting international law in general and harming all countries, including Canada itself.

The spokesman once again condoled with families of the victims, saying, “The political gestures of the Canadian government can only be interpreted as doing business with the grief and sorrow of the bereaved families and survivors of the accident and playing with their sentiments in order to achieve its short-sighted political objectives,” Khatibzadeh added.

Also, Abbasali Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardian Council, said that the Canadian court’s ruling is illegitimate, as the court is far from the incident’s jurisdiction.

He posed the question: “Are Iranian courts legitimate to issue ruling over accidents in Canada?”

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Guardian Council clarifies criteria for presidential candidates. The Guardian Council has released the full text of the amendment to a measure that it has ratified in order to clarify the criteria and standards for defining the political and religious personalities and the qualities that determine the managerial characteristics and skillfulness of the candidates applying for the post of president.

In accordance with Clause 5 of Article 10 of the ‘General Policies on Elections’ laid out by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, which have assigned the Guardian Council to “define and declare the necessary criteria and conditions for the identification of the political and religious personalities and the qualities that determine the managerial characteristics and skillfulness of the presidential candidates”, and considering the Clause 9 of Article 110 and Article 115 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Guardian Council ratified those definitions, criteria, and conditions at a meeting on January 10, 2018, and amended those standards at a meeting on April 28, 2021.

The full text of the measure, which has been communicated to the Ministry of Interior on May 1, 2021, for implementation, is as follows:

The definition, criteria, and necessary conditions for the identification of the political and religious personalities and the qualities that determine the managerial characteristics and skillfulness of the presidential candidates:

Clause 1 – The definitions of political and religious personalities and the qualities that determine the managerial characteristics and skillfulness of the presidential candidates include:

1. Religious personalities are the persons who have adequate knowledge of Islam and Shiite faith and whose religiosity and commitment to performance of religious rites and rituals in the personal and the social life is particularly prominent, in a way that they would be illustrious and famed for such characteristics among the public.

2. Religious personalities are the persons whose capability to analyze and perceive the political issues and phenomena in light of their deep understanding of the sociopolitical issues, including the internal and international issues, and of their presence in the political scenes is such that the expedience of the Islamic establishment and the pure revolutionary criteria are always applied to their performance, in a way that they would be illustrious and famed for such characteristics among the public.

3. A person with managerial characteristics enjoys the necessary innate and acquired competence in terms of knowledge, skills, character, individual attitudes, and experiences who is capable of recognizing and optimizing the use of human and material resources in the country in conformity with maximum productivity and in accordance with the establishment’s mission, objectives and major goals and the values prevailing in the society, and whose background testifies to success at macro-managerial levels.

4. A skillful person has the foresight and contemplation capability to deal with the affairs on the basis of rationality and correct knowledge in order to handle the affairs of the country and also has the ability to settle the problems and find a way out of crisis in an appropriate manner.

Clause 2 – The necessary conditions and criteria for the identification of the political and religious personalities and the qualities that determine the managerial characteristics and skillfulness of the presidential candidates include:

1. Sufficient and evaluable background in the religious and political activities, including the written works, speeches, and expression of stances;

2. The experience of serving for at least a combined total of four years in the following posts; Serving in one or more posts would suffice when calculating the total years of experience:

2-1. The political posts mentioned in Clauses A, B, and C of Article 71 of the Administrative Services Management Act, ratified on October 29, 2007;

2-2. Deputies of heads of three branches of power;

2-3. Members of the Supreme National Security Council;

2-4. Members of the Expediency Discernment Council;

2-5. Director of the Islamic Seminaries Management Center of Iran;

2-6. Directors of the governmental organizations, institutions, and foundations, and the non-governmental public foundations at the national level;

2-7. High-ranking commanders of the Armed Forces with the rank of Major General and above;

2-8. President of the Islamic Azad University at the national level;

2-9. Provincial governors;

2-10. Mayors of cities with a population of over two million;

2-11. The personalities, officials and managers equivalent to the abovementioned posts at the discretion of the Guardian Council;

3. The necessary health conditions and capability to assume the presidential responsibilities;

4. The minimum age of 40 and maximum age of 75 according to the solar calendar at the time of registration;

5. Holding at least a master’s degree or its equivalent certified by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology or the Ministry of Health and Medical Education or the Islamic Seminaries Management Center;

6. Presentation of the plans and executive guidelines within the framework of the competence and purview of the Executive branch of power on the basis of the upstream documents, including the Constitution and the establishment’s general policies;

7. Introduction of advisers to explicate the plans and managerial potential;

8. Non-conviction for social rights deprivation at the time of registration;

9. Certificate of clearance on no previous convictions;

10. Non-conviction for economic crimes such as fraud, bribery, embezzlement, collusion in governmental dealings, money laundering, disruption to the country’s economic system, and also non-conviction for acting against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s establishment;

11. Non-affiliation with the illegal groups and certificate of clearance on security crimes, such as involvement in the 2009 post-election sedition;

12. Non-affiliation with and non-involvement in strengthening the previous regime;

Provision (1) – The applicants intending to register for the presidential election are obligated to submit the supporting documents relating to the Clauses 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 of this Article to the Ministry of Interior at the time of registration. Registration in the electoral process does not mean that the applicant is competent, as the verification of competence of the applicants will be within the purview of the Guardian Council.

Provision (2) – If the applicants have any objections to rejection of their registration request, they can submit their protest with written documented evidence to the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council simultaneously. The Guardian Council will consider the objections in due time and during the registration period and will inform the Ministry of Interior and the applicant of the results.

Provision (3) – In order to certify the requirements of the applicants registering for the presidential election, the Guardian Council can get inquiries from the competent bodies or conduct investigations independently.

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Hadi Tahan Nazif, a legal jurist on the Guardian Council, said that during a Wednesday meeting, all members of the vetting body reached a consensus on addressing the disorder that emerges in the registration of presidential candidates each four years and defining relevant criteria.

He cited the fact that every four years, a significant number of individuals show up at election headquarters, declare their candidacy, and simply register by holding photographs and a copy of their identification cards.

Tahan Nazif stated that the Council agreed to amend an earlier interpretation of the Constitution to clearly identify and announce the requirements used to assess a political and “religious rajol” who is resourceful and has managerial skills.

The Iranian Constitution states that the country’s president must be a political and religious rajol, a term borrowed from Arabic that literally translates as “man.” Some constitutional scholars argue that the term should not be interpreted literally, and that a woman of high political standing and/or history should not be considered a “political rajol” and therefore be entitled to run for president if she meets the other criteria as well.

Other precise information, according to Tahan Nazif, were also decided upon.

“After much deliberation,” he said, “it was determined that presidential candidates be expected to have minimum qualifications in terms of educational degree, job and managerial experience, and minimum and maximum ages.”

‘Top military brass can field candidacy’

The qualifications were announced as follows: all candidates must be between the ages of 40 and 70, hold a master’s degree or its equivalent, have at least four years of work experience in management positions (with relevant criteria), and have no criminal record.

Notably, top military officers with the rank of general or higher are permitted to run as well.

The Iranian presidential elections will be held on June 18.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Guardian Council Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaee says the council has not yet involved in the election issue and it has not taken any action and people can register to run for presidency at the due time but he recommends those who had been disqualified in the past not to register.

Speaking at a presser on the occasion of Reporters’ Day, Kadkhodaee said it is too soon for the council to be involved in the presidential election and it will engage at its due time. He further said those who think they are eligible can register to run for presidency but he recommends those who have once in the past been disqualified by the council not to register.

He further said the council approved a parliamentary approval on a trade agreement between Iran and India.

Kadkhodaee referred to approving the FATF, saying that the Guardian Council only comments on approving the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in accordance with the Islamic law and the constitution, and its position has not changed.

Pointing to holding the elections electronically, the spokesman of the Guardian Council said that the process of examining this issue has been accelerated given the situation of coronavirus outbreak in the country, and the criterion of the Guardian Council in this regard is the integrity of the elections.

He also said that the Ministry of Interior has announced that the second round of parliamentary elections will be held in accordance with health protocols.

Referring to the Guardian Council’s supervision of the behavior of parliamentarians, Kadkhodaee said that this supervision needs to be exercised through a more precise mechanism during the four years of parliament’s term to prevent violations.

In response to a question about the 12 bills of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the parliament to counter the hostile actions of the United States, he said that if the parliament ratifies the bills, the Guardian Council will comment on them according to Islamic law and the constitution.

On the change of the country’s presidential system into the parliamentary, he said the council has studied about it in the past and in case the issue gets serious, the council is ready to work on it. He reiterated that the council is ready to consultation on the issue.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Guardian Council Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaie yesterday said the council has not approved the bill on slashing four zeros from the national currency and has returned the bill to Majlis to be amended.

Speaking in a press conference yesterday, Kadkhodaee said that the bill approved by Majlis has problems and ambiguities because it has not noticed Iran’s undertakings towards the International Monetary as one of the yardsticks for calculating and determining the par of exchange. He added that the bill would be returned to Majlis for revision and amendment.

He also voiced the council’s readiness to provide its research capacity to the 11th parliament to improve the quality of the legislative process.

Answering the question about the approach and interaction of the Guardian Council towards the 11th parliament and its expectations from it, the GC Spokesman Kadkhodaie said, “We hope that the 11th parliament would use the experiences of the past parliaments to seize this 4-year opportunity to realize the rights of the people and solve their living problems.”

He went on to say that the Guardian Council is fully prepared to provide its research capacity to the parliament to improve the quality of the legislative process.

“Just like the previous parliament, which the Guardian Council had a good expert interaction with it, this relationship will be maintained with the 11th parliament,” he stressed.

Speaking in a press conference and when asked the reasons for the Guardian Council’s opposition to the resolution of the last days of the tenth parliament regarding the amendment of the election law, Kadkhodaie noted, “The Expediency Council has passed resolutions in accordance with this resolution, and for this reason, the EC comment on the amendment of the election law.”

He elsewhere announced that the double-urgency bill to counter the Zionist regime’s hostile actions against peace and security was not considered contrary to Islamic law and the Constitution.

In addition, the draft agreement on bilateral air services between the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the government of Kuwait was not considered contrary to Islamic law and the Constitution.

The Guardian Council also did not consider the bill on the accession of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Agreement on International Transport of Perishable Food and Special Applied Equipment for such transfers to be contrary to Islamic law and the Constitution.

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According To Iran News, Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaie, on Saturday, announced that the Iranian body verifies the authenticity of the first round of Iran’s Parliamentary election, held back in February, 2020.

The official also informed that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the second round of Parliamentary elections, which is scheduled to be held in early September, may be postponed.

The event was planned to be held on April 17, in 11 elections bases across the country where the elections have entered the second round, but due to the coronavirus outburst in the country, it was postponed to September 4.

Millions of Iranians cast voted for the 11th parliamentary election as well as Assembly of Experts’ mid-term election (in some provinces) in late February across the country.

A total of 7,148 candidates, including dozens of Iranians from the religious minorities, ran for the parliament.

There are 290 seats in the parliament.

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