Activity of Zoroastrian Member of Yazd City Council Halted, to be Pursued in Parliament

The Vice President of the Islamic Consultative Assembly described the Administrative Justice Court's ruling to halt the activity of the Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council as 'illegal' and stated that the Guardian Council's notification regarding this matter is not law and was 'merely' issued by the Secretary of this council. Ali Motahari emphasized in an interview with ISNA on Wednesday, October 4, that 'the Parliament will pursue this issue using its supervisory tools.' He did not specify what actions the Parliament could take based on its powers in this regard. Following a complaint by Ali-Asghar Bagheri, one of the defeated candidates for the Yazd City Council, the Administrative Justice Court issued a temporary suspension of Spenta Niknam's membership in the Yazd City Council in September. Subsequently, the political and security deputy of the Yazd governorate announced that the governorate had prepared a 'well-founded legal response' and sent it to the Administrative Justice Court, awaiting a response from the court. So far, no report has been published regarding the Administrative Justice Court's response to the Yazd governorate. The ruling of the Administrative Justice Court cited the opinion of the Guardian Council's jurists regarding the prohibition of electing religious minorities as members of the City Council. The wait for the Administrative Justice Court's response comes as Ali Afkhami, the Secretary of the Supervisory Board for the Islamic City and Village Council elections in Yazd province, emphasized on Thursday that the re-qualification of the Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council has been confirmed by the legal committee of this board. Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, in a letter dated April 15, referred to Article 4 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, Articles 19 and 21 of the internal regulations of the Guardian Council, and the opinions of the jurists of this council regarding the first clause of Article 26 of the Council Law, calling for the disqualification of non-Muslim minority candidates in areas where the majority of the population is Muslim. However, Ali Motahari stated that this notification is 'not a resolution of the Guardian Council, but merely issued by Mr. Jannati.' The Vice President of the Parliament emphasized that the Guardian Council cannot declare a law 'against Sharia' years after its approval; rather, if there is a proposal regarding the interpretation of a law, it must be submitted to the government or Parliament to go through the legal processes. According to Iranian laws, the interpretation of the Constitution is the responsibility of the Guardian Council, while the interpretation of ordinary laws is the responsibility of the Parliament. The law in question is also an ordinary law. Mr. Motahari also noted that the Guardian Council's notification was issued based on the statements of Ayatollah Khomeini, adding that if a matter contradicts the words of the former leader of the Islamic Republic, 'it does not mean it is against Sharia.' Ayatollah Khomeini stated on October 4, 1979, regarding the members of the City Council: 'Individuals must first be Muslim and secondly believe in the movement, be trustworthy in their work, have true faith, be committed to the rulings of Islam, and not have a history of wrongdoing... and of course, those who are non-Muslim may establish councils for themselves.' The letter from the Secretary of the Guardian Council during the City Council elections was also a subject of dispute between this council and the Supervisory Board for the elections, which is affiliated with the Parliament, and ultimately, this board did not accept the Guardian Council's opinion and confirmed the qualifications of several religious minorities. The Yazd Islamic City Council consists of 11 main members and seven alternate members, with Spenta Niknam elected as the seventh member of the City Council. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in a rare move in September, in response to a letter from Molavi Abdolhamid criticizing 'discrimination' against Sunnis, wrote that the pillars of the Islamic Republic are obliged 'not to discriminate among Iranians based on the Constitution.' The letter from the leader of the Islamic Republic and his emphasis on eliminating discrimination 'based on the Constitution' comes while Article 12 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran declares the official religion of the country to be Twelver Shia Islam, and Article 115 assigns the highest positions in the system, namely leadership and presidency, to Shia Muslims, excluding Sunnis and followers of other religions from holding these positions. Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians in Iran are also deprived of political government positions such as district and provincial governorships and high positions in other offices of the Islamic Republic. After the victory of the 1979 revolution in Iran, hundreds of Baha'is were imprisoned, and some were executed. In recent years, several Baha'is, Christian converts, Jews, and Zoroastrians have also been arrested in Iran.