Entry of Armed Forces into Electoral Classifications Declared Prohibited

On Saturday, February 25, the Expediency Discernment Council of the System of Iran announced in a resolution that the entry of members of the armed forces and intelligence and security agencies into "political and factional classifications in elections and support for specific candidates" is prohibited. According to the state news agency IRNA, the ban includes "members of the armed forces, including the Army, the Revolutionary Guard, the Law Enforcement Force, intelligence and security agencies, and the Basij Organization." This resolution comes at a time when in recent years, some political factions in Iran have criticized what they claim is the interference of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in elections. Ali Saeedi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC, stated on January 8, 2013, that "the inherent duty of the IRGC is to logically and reasonably engineer elections." These remarks led to widespread protests, including a statement from then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on January 9, 2013, saying, "Anyone who wants to manage the people will be managed by the people." Protesters against the results of the 2009 presidential election had previously claimed the IRGC's interference in that election. They cited the release of videos of speeches by Mohammad Ali Jafari, the IRGC commander, and Ali Saeedi as further evidence of what they called "fraud" in that election. Journalist and writer Mohammad Nourizad released a video on June 11, 2014, showing Ali Saeedi emphasizing the IRGC's support for Ahmadinejad, which he referred to as a "command" from Ayatollah Khamenei. A video of IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari was also released, in which he expressed the IRGC's "concern and red line" regarding the possibility of reformists returning to power. Following the 2012 parliamentary elections, several members of the eighth parliament, including Ali Motahari and Mostafa Kavakebian, accused the IRGC of attempting to send their preferred candidates to parliament. Motahari stated, "One of the weaknesses of the ninth parliamentary elections was the serious support of the IRGC for their preferred candidates in many electoral districts." IRGC commanders have denied Motahari's accusations. In its resolution on Saturday, the Expediency Discernment Council also emphasized the "precise determination of criteria and indicators for verifying the general and specific conditions of candidates, with an emphasis on commitment to Islam, the revolution, the Islamic system, and the Constitution, especially adherence to the leadership of the jurist, moral integrity, economic integrity, and effectiveness commensurate with the relevant responsibilities." Other provisions of the Expediency Discernment Council's resolution include "thorough examination and verification of the necessary conditions for candidates' qualifications within the framework of the law of each election, with sufficient time for inquiries from relevant authorities and their responsible and timely responses." In recent years, the issue of approving the qualifications of candidates for parliamentary and presidential elections has been a topic of discussion among groups such as reformists and the Guardian Council. The Guardian Council declared its supervisory role in elections as "discretionary" during the fourth parliamentary elections and has rejected the qualifications of several candidates in each parliamentary and presidential election due to not meeting the conditions. Nejatollah Ebrahimi, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, stated on January 8 that this council is the "first and last judge" in reviewing candidates' qualifications and that the presumption of innocence does not apply in the process of assessing candidates' qualifications. In recent years, some members of the Guardian Council have also stated that the presumption of innocence does not apply in the review of candidates' qualifications. For instance, Abbas Kabi, a member of the Guardian Council, stated in 2007 that "the Guardian Council is not a court that issues judicial rulings against someone and declares their guilt or innocence to say that the presumption of innocence applies." Previously, Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, stated that referencing the presumption of innocence in qualifications "lacks legal backing."