Entry of Minorities Forbidden

The newspaper Bahar has dedicated a photo to "Sepanta Niknam" with the headline "Entry of Minorities Forbidden," stating that Mohammad Yazdi has declared the Guardian Council's ruling regarding the cancellation of Sepanta Niknam's membership, a Zoroastrian member of Yazd City Council, as "unchangeable." According to this newspaper, "The issue of suspending Sepanta Niknam's membership, who was a member of the fourth and fifth terms of the Yazd City Council, by the Administrative Justice Court and with the opinion of the Guardian Council, which has been under consideration for some time, continues, and the process of resolving this issue seems to have reached a deadlock. During the time that has passed since this incident, efforts to resolve this issue have been ongoing, but yesterday, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a member of the Guardian Council's jurists, stated in a detailed interview with the conservative news agency Tasnim that the majority of the jurists of the Guardian Council unanimously canceled Sepanta Niknam's membership in the Yazd City Council, deeming it contrary to Sharia and the Constitution. He emphasized that this decision, announced and communicated by the Administrative Justice Court judge, is entirely legal, enforceable, and irreversible." The Bahar newspaper pointed out that Yazdi added that "according to the opinion of the jurists of this council, none of the representatives of religious minorities in Iran, including Zoroastrians, Jews, or Christians, can make decisions in matters concerning Muslims, even if the representatives of religious minorities, like Mr. Niknam, have the votes of Muslims. For this reason, this member of the Guardian Council's jurists emphasized that not only was Sepanta Niknam's membership in the Yazd City Council against Sharia and the Constitution from the beginning, but even his candidacy in the elections for this council was also contrary to Sharia and the Constitution." Therefore, "the jurists of the Guardian Council have terminated Mr. Sepanta Niknam's membership in this council, and the judge of the Administrative Justice Court has also enforced the Guardian Council's decision with his irreversible ruling." The Bahar newspaper simultaneously wrote in its editorial that these statements indicate that "from the perspective of the jurists of the Guardian Council, the issue that if an individual from a religious minority is elected in a city with a Muslim majority, this majority's election can be vetoed is a self-evident matter" and questioned, "Is this decision, similar to what happened for the elected representative of Isfahan in the recent parliamentary elections, a deviation from the ideals of the Iranian people's revolution?" The newspaper Hamdeli chose "Sepanta" Niknam as its headline and wrote that Mohammad Yazdi, a member of the Guardian Council's jurists, and Abbasali Kadkhodai, the spokesperson for this council, stated: "The sad story of Sepanta Niknam's deprivation, a Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council, continues. Niknam, who was also a member of the fourth term of this city council, was elected for the fifth term but was suspended by the Administrative Justice Court due to a complaint from Ali-Asghar Bagheri, a defeated conservative candidate in the Yazd City Council elections, on the grounds of not being a Muslim." According to this newspaper, Abbasali Kadkhodai, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council, on Tuesday regarding Mohammad Yazdi's comment that "restoring the legal resolution of the Guardian Council is against the principle of the system," stated: "The jurists' religious opinion (of the Guardian Council) is the same." Hossein Aghaei Janat Makan, an associate professor at the Law Department of Chamran University of Ahvaz, also wrote in the editorial of the Hamdeli newspaper titled "Peaceful Coexistence is a Necessity for Social Life" that "for some time, the issue of suspending a member of the Yazd City Council who is Zoroastrian has transformed into a serious issue in the political and legal activities. The reactions of various individuals, including political and social activists, legal experts, etc., are largely hopeful and commendable," while "the singular interpretation in this struggle indicates that the time has come for a reconsideration of such interpretations and readings of traditions." The editorial writer of the Hamdeli newspaper introduced the issuer of the suspension order for Sepanta Niknam in the Administrative Justice Court as one of his former students and wrote: "This decision, taken by a former student of mine, is so inappropriate that it has raised the voices of traditionalists and their political defenders," adding that "legal teachings provide individuals with knowledge and credentials, but do not necessarily grant them good legal understanding. A proper understanding and interpretation of laws in a law-abiding and fair manner requires skill and practice in seeking freedom." This university professor emphasized that "today, the boundaries separating individuals based on intrinsic and extrinsic discriminatory criteria in enjoying citizenship rights have collapsed," writing: "International human rights documents and their monitoring bodies do not accept the segregation of individuals based on religion, gender, race, and ethnicity and reject it, and all rights and privileges of individuals should be considered based on a single criterion of humanity. Modern legal thought seeks to isolate criteria based on religion, gender, and other extrinsic characteristics and aims to promote a human rights perspective." The editorial writer of Hamdeli implicitly criticized the actions of the Guardian Council and the Administrative Justice Court for removing Sepanta Niknam due to his Zoroastrian faith and emphasized that "the result and outcome of these behaviors is certainly not good," writing that "peaceful coexistence among all religious and ethnic groups with the enjoyment of all rights and privileges is a matter of reason and in the path of wisdom" and "the division of individuals into Muslims and non-Muslims is not acceptable in today's modern world." The newspaper Shahrvand reported on its front page with the title "Two Million Single-Parent Households" that "the number of single households among Iranians in 2016 compared to 2006 has doubled." This newspaper wrote that the results of a study on "singleness and living alone" over a ten-year period show that the number of single-person households in 2006 was nearly 880,000, which increased to 1.5 million in 2011 and reached two million in 2016. According to this data, "the number of single-parent male households in 2006 was 300,000, which increased to 680,000 in 2016, and the number of single-parent female households was 574,000, which reached one million and 300,000 in 2016." The newspaper Shahrvand wrote that "the results of this research conducted by Shahla Kazemi-Pour, a population researcher, indicate that the ratio of single-person households to the total has increased from 5.2% to 8%. Male heads of households have increased from 1.9% to 3%, and female heads of households have increased from 3.6% to 4%." Mohammad Taghi Fazel-Meybodi, a member of the Assembly of Researchers and Teachers of Qom Seminary, also criticized the Guardian Council's decision in the editorial of the Shargh newspaper, asking: "Based on which narration, principle, or legal and jurisprudential basis has Mohammad Yazdi expressed such an opinion that in a place where the majority are Muslims, a non-Muslim cannot enter a multi-member council?" Because "previously, a number of religious authorities were asked whether a non-Muslim manager could manage a group whose staff are Muslims, and most of them answered positively." The editorial writer of the Shargh newspaper stated that "Mr. Niknam has been able to become a member of the Yazd City Council for the second time by receiving the people's vote and express his opinions on urban issues, construction, and development as a member of the council," questioning, "Where in this matter does it imply the dominance of a non-Muslim over Muslims? Governance means the governance of belief, and the Quran also emphasizes the rule of 'Nafi Sabil' meaning the negation of the dominance of disbelief over Islam; that is, disbelief that during the Prophet's time was constantly seeking to fight and wage jihad against Muslims," but "today, we do not consider the followers of other religions and the people of the Book as infidels, and secondly, even if the activities of infidels do not lead to the dominance of disbelief, it is not problematic." Mohammad Taghi Fazel Meybodi questioned the jurists of the Guardian Council, asking: "If a communist manager from Russia manages hundreds of Iranian Muslim engineers and personnel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, and even makes decisions for the power plant, should he be removed from this responsibility? Then why did this not happen?" The editorial writer of Shargh reminded that "in ancient jurisprudence, a Muslim from Africa could even become the President of Iran, because the boundary in ancient jurisprudence was between Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Kufr. Now the boundaries are geographical, and the concepts of citizenship and nationality prevail; all citizens' rights in a country are equal, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims," adding that "even in ancient jurisprudence, there was no legal objection to the management of a non-Muslim over Muslims, and it seems that enlightened scholars and respected authorities should prevent the proposal of opinions that have no basis in Sharia." Amir Hossein Abadi, a lawyer and president of the Central Bar Association, also wrote in the editorial of the Iran newspaper titled "Ambiguities of the Guardian Council's Position on Sepanta" that regarding Mohammad Yazdi's stance, "several issues can be pointed out. First, Mr. Sepanta Niknam has also served as a member of the City Council four years ago, and if his activities were legally and religiously problematic, the question is why the Guardian Council did not issue such a ruling and opinion four years ago? What has changed this year for his second term in the City Council that such a ruling is issued? Clearly, during this time, neither has the law changed nor has there been any extraordinary event in the demographic composition of minorities in Yazd that would lead to such an opinion from the Guardian Council." The editorial writer of the government-aligned newspaper pointed out that "the Guardian Council has issued this ruling based on its authority as the interpreter of the Constitution and the approver of laws," writing that "the law on the elections of Islamic councils of cities and villages was previously approved by the Guardian Council itself, and this authority cannot re-enter this issue and issue such a ruling. In fact, although the Guardian Council is the authority for interpreting and approving laws, this does not mean that this council can abrogate laws, nor does it mean that it has the ability to legislate. In fact, the scope of responsibility and authority of the Guardian Council is based on the validity of the resolutions, meaning that the occurrence of a resolution takes place in the parliament, and after that, the Guardian Council approves or rejects it." The president of the Central Bar Association emphasized that "even if there are un-Islamic provisions in our election laws, they must first be abrogated, amended, or changed in parliament, and then the Guardian Council can enter the matter. Furthermore, this council has no authority to enter the realm of laws that have already been approved and implemented. If this were the case, in every new term of the Guardian Council, members could enter the discussion of laws and make amendments, changes, or abrogations to them." The newspaper Sharq published the recommendation of the former head of state television for restoring the reputation of "acquitted defendants" on its front page, reporting that Ezzatollah Zarghami, the former head of state television, in his Telegram channel suggested the "necessity of consolation and restoration of reputation for security suspects who have been acquitted," writing: "Security agencies are obliged to summon and interrogate suspected individuals for the inherent missions of their duties, which must be done with a judge's order and in accordance with Islamic, ethical, and human considerations. Naturally, if individuals are acquitted in this process, they should be apologized to, and if rumors have been created about them during their arrest, they should be explicitly denied by the relevant agencies." Ezzatollah Zarghami emphasized that "this is the minimum reasonable expectation from security agencies in the Islamic Republic. Unfortunately, we encounter cases where, despite the psychological and physical damages to the detainees and their complete acquittal over a long period, no effort is made to restore their reputation. I suggest that the Islamic Consultative Assembly urgently pass a single-article bill in this regard." This figure close to the conservative faction referred to the case of Tahereh Qiyumi, stating that "the former director of the Center for Communications, Information, and Advertising of the Presidency was detained as a suspect in connection with cooperation with anti-revolutionary foreign websites and was interrogated for a while, while "she, who also suffers from two serious illnesses, was released after going through various stages. All security, intelligence, and judicial agencies have also concluded that she is innocent, but no one is willing to document this innocence so that she can return to her normal life and continue her service." The Shargh newspaper, stating that "Ezzatollah Zarghami is trying these days to portray a different image of a conservative in his demeanor and speech," quoted Nemat Ahmad, a lawyer, stating: "I wish Mr. Zarghami would request that a bill be submitted to the parliament that prevents any statements against individuals until their charges are clarified in a competent court. It is surprising that someone who has been the head of the most extensive media in the country for ten years would accept that we spread rumors against individuals who have committed no crime, and after a while, when abuses occur and that person's reputation is damaged, we say they should be restored. This contradicts the laws of the country." Saleh Nikbakht, a lawyer, also commented on Ezzatollah Zarghami's statements to Shargh, stating: "His remarks reflect ignorance of the current procedural law. In this law, if someone is acquitted, they can claim damages for the days of detention, and even in the new law, it is provided that if someone is acquitted, they can announce in newspapers that they have been acquitted. What he has said does not conform to the current procedural law, although restoring someone's reputation after it has been damaged is not easy." The newspaper Sobhe No, in a report titled "Live Broadcast of FIFA's Best Ceremony from Internet TVs," evaluated it as a sign of "migration to virtual television" and wrote: "If you currently visit the audio and visual section of one of the online stores like Cafe Bazaar, you will find several of these applications. Ayo, Telebion, and Anten are among the most well-known apps. Ayo is an application that rumors about its organizational affiliation with state television are also circulating these days." This newspaper provided details about the broadcast of FIFA's best ceremony from television.