Ed Royce Criticizes Elections in Iran

Ed Royce, the Republican Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated in a press release that the disqualification of moderate candidates in Iran's elections, missile tests, and the detention of American sailors contradict the promise made by Barack Obama regarding Iran becoming more moderate and responsible. Royce noted that 'President Obama promised Congress that Iran would become more responsible and moderate. However, just hours after the nuclear agreement was implemented, the Iranian regime disqualified 2,967 out of nearly 3,000 moderate candidates for the parliamentary elections in Iran.' He added that Iran violated UN sanctions by conducting missile tests, detained American sailors, and continued to support the 'murderous' regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Previously, a team of UN sanctions observers had stated that the mid-range missile test of Emad violated one of the UN Security Council resolutions. According to Ed Royce, with access to $100 billion of its blocked assets due to sanctions, Iran has 'now dominated the region (Middle East).' John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, had announced on February 23 that the amount of money Iran would receive in cash after the implementation of the nuclear agreement would be 'less than $50 billion.' US officials have emphasized that the nuclear agreement has prevented Iran from accessing nuclear weapons. This agreement has faced opposition from nearly all Republican members of Congress. Ed Royce stated that the Revolutionary Guard is responsible for the deaths of protesters during the 2009 election protests and has become more powerful. The Obama administration placed several Iranian officials and security figures on its sanctions list following the crackdown on the 2009 election protests. This list and sanctions outside the nuclear file remain in effect. The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that some election candidates may be considered moderate; however, he rejects this notion. In his view, the Iranian government has forced its people to choose 'between hardliners and more hardliners,' as some claim. In recent weeks, Barack Obama, the President of the United States, and his officials, as well as major officials from Western countries, have either not commented on the elections in Iran or have only stated that they are following the news related to it. Some European figures had called for the West not to take sides in these elections; however, Javier Solana, a former EU foreign policy representative, Bonino, a former Italian foreign minister, and Ali Vaez, a senior analyst on Iran at the International Crisis Group, mentioned in an article for Reuters the widespread disqualification of reformists but added that the experience of the past thirty years has shown that any individual supported by Western leaders as a 'moderate' has been marginalized in Iran. Officials close to the Iranian government have repeatedly accused election protesters and their prominent figures of 'spying for the US and Britain.' The Assembly of Experts and Islamic Consultative Assembly elections were held on February 26 in Iran, while a significant number of reformists were disqualified by the Guardian Council. The widespread disqualifications regarding the Assembly of Experts were such that in some constituencies, only one candidate was put to a vote. In recent days, conservatives have repeatedly attributed the remaining reformist candidates to 'England and America.' Government-supporting groups, 'moderates,' and reformists ultimately published joint lists and supported a group of remaining candidates in the elections.