Heated debate continues in Iran over the Guardian Council — the arbiter of candidates qualified to run in parliamentary elections — which appears to be seeking the power to determine who can continue serving in the legislature by supervising members throughout their time in office.
Controversy first erupted in late March after the council disqualified Minoo Khaleghi, a Reformist politician from Esfahan, although she had been deemed qualified to run and had won a seat in the Feb. 26 parliamentary elections. Khaleghi’s Guardian Council approval was reportedly annulled after photos of her without a headscarf appeared on the internet. Her case has since turned into a source of conflict between the Guardian Council and the Interior Ministry, which contends that parliament, not the council, should be making such decisions. Khaleghi is not the first elected official to be disqualified by the council after election. In 2012, Kazem Salimi and Ali Akbar Matin both had their Guardian Council approvals annulled for unknown reasons two days after entering the ninth parliament (2012-16).
