Hassan Khomeini's Readiness for the Assembly of Experts Elections

The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in its Sunday issue published a detailed interview with Nejatollah Ebrahimi, the spokesman of the Guardian Council, stating: "We will not rely solely on the apparent inquiries of the four authorities." The spokesman of the Guardian Council, in direct responses to the comments of Hassan Rouhani and Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli regarding the Guardian Council, described these criticisms as "sabotage of the Guardian Council" and stated: "Regarding individuals within the system who engage in political discussions and sometimes address the Guardian Council, it should be said that if they consider this approach as a tool for electoral struggle, such behavior is akin to sitting on a branch and cutting it off." The newspaper Etemad reported on its front page Hassan Khomeini's readiness for the Assembly of Experts elections, stating: "Hassan Khomeini's readiness for the Assembly of Experts elections was mentioned during a meeting he had with reformists in Mazandaran province." The Iran newspaper quoted Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the Energy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, reporting that "the amount of the contract for 25 missing rigs is $2.5 billion." The Jahan San'at newspaper reported on its front page the Research Center of the Parliament's prediction regarding the increase in the number of unemployed to 7 million in the year 1400. According to this newspaper, the Research Center of the Parliament warned about a tsunami of unemployment exceeding seven million in the year 1400, emphasizing that "with the influx of 6.5 million educated individuals into the job market, the number of unemployed in 1400 is predicted to be about twice the current level, indicating a continuation of the unemployment growth trend in the country." The Shahrvand newspaper reported that Naser Makarem Shirazi, a cleric based in Qom, stated during a meeting with Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Deputy Foreign Minister, that "the nuclear agreement was a victory for the Islamic system." Naser Makarem Shirazi, four years after the attack on the British Embassy in December 2011 and a few days after its reopening, told Majid Takht-Ravanchi: "It is obligatory for us to protect their lives and property. It was based on this principle that I sent a message regarding the attack on the British Embassy, deeming it an incorrect action, as the British government was committed to us, and ensuring their security was our obligation." The Shargh newspaper reported that Mohammad Reza Khatami, during a speech at the tenth congress of the Organization of Justice and Freedom in Isfahan on Thursday, stated that reformist activists "can stand together better than June 14, 2013, relying on minimalism and sacrifice regarding past events and plan for success in the upcoming elections." This newspaper also reported "good news for the imprisoned environmentalists in Dena," stating that "efforts and pursuits by well-known and influential figures in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province for the release of two imprisoned environmentalists in Yasuj are nearing fruition. Reports from this province indicate that hopes for the release of environmentalists Asad Taghizadeh and Gholamhossein Khaledi have increased, and they may soon reach a happy conclusion with the consent of the families of the victims in these two cases. Taghizadeh has been behind bars for seven years, and Khaledi for five years." This newspaper simultaneously quoted Ismail Rezaei, the father of Mojtaba Rezaei, who was killed by one of the environmentalists, stating: "I myself am an environmental enthusiast and have written several articles on this subject and will continue to do so, but in my son's murder case, I wanted to prove to the world that my son was merely a photographer who was innocently killed in the heights of Dena. I also urge the media to promote environmental protection and ask those who consider hunting deer as a sign of manhood to abandon this incorrect custom." The Kayhan newspaper criticized the "hasty implementation of commitments before the approval of the JCPOA" on its front page, stating: "The Foreign Minister announced in Isfahan the commencement of Iran's commitments from the beginning of this month and their conclusion after ten years," but "contrary to what the honorable Foreign Minister stated regarding our timetable, the Constitution has devised another plan and proposed a different path. According to Articles 77 and 125 of the Constitution, any treaty that commits our country in the international arena against one or several other countries, regardless of its name and title, requires examination and approval by the Islamic Consultative Assembly." This newspaper also called for "the immediate involvement of the Parliament in the JCPOA" in its editorial, emphasizing that "the immediate involvement of the Parliament in the JCPOA will become more significant when we once again review the positions of government officials, which have been repeatedly stated in recent weeks, regarding the examination of the JCPOA in the Supreme National Security Council and not in the Parliament, and also consider the statement of the honorable Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council that stated: the final works of the JCPOA are underway in the council; the JCPOA serves national interests." Nejatollah Ebrahimi stated: The Guardian Council will never retreat. The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in its Sunday issue published a detailed interview with Nejatollah Ebrahimi, spokesman of the Guardian Council, quoting him as saying: "We will not rely solely on the apparent inquiries of the four authorities." This newspaper described Nejatollah Ebrahimi's remarks as a reaction to the comments of Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic, and Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, stating: "The attack and discrediting of the Guardian Council by various political individuals and groups has become normal over the years," but "what has brought the normal process of discrediting the Guardian Council into a new phase was the President's remarks in a joint meeting of the government and governors against this revolutionary institution, which brought a wave of concern and discontent among the loyalists of the Islamic Revolution and was met with great enthusiasm by marked internal groups and foreign media." The spokesman of the Guardian Council described the criticisms of the Guardian Council's performance as "sabotage of the Guardian Council" and stated: "Part of this sabotage comes from those who unfortunately have enmity and hostility towards the Revolution and the system, but regarding individuals within the system who engage in political discussions and sometimes address the Guardian Council, it should be said that if they consider this approach as a tool for electoral struggle, such behavior is akin to sitting on a branch and cutting it off." Nejatollah Ebrahimi told the Javan newspaper: "The untimely raising of certain doubts and issues with execution and supervision and authority in execution and supervision is truly contradictory; especially from official authorities who themselves are the executors of these legal rules and electoral laws. If they criticize and discredit the electoral laws, will this create confidence and calm among the people that they will correctly implement these rules established by their representatives? In my opinion, this disrupts that calm, and as a result, I think the issue of supervisory oversight is legally concluded for the executors, and addressing it may not help us during the elections and these days." The spokesman of the Guardian Council emphasized that "the position of execution and supervision differs from the seat of free thought," stating: "Someone may advise us to execute the law we approved well. Or they may point out executional flaws to us. We must pay attention to these reminders to see how our record in implementing the law is. However, these reminders differ from questioning the essence of the law, especially by the executor or supervisor." He implicitly referred to the comments of Hassan Rouhani and Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli regarding the type of oversight of the Guardian Council over elections, stating: "They are not unfamiliar with legal rules and laws, and they are referred to as a legal president. However, perhaps the position of speech and sermon does not allow for addressing all legal details. In part of their remarks, as is customary in speeches and sermons, they resorted to metaphor. They used the terms hand and eye. Perhaps if you look at this metaphor from certain angles, we cannot deduce the negation of supervisory oversight from this statement of the honorable President. Such a thing does not emerge from their statements," while "supervisory oversight, apart from the interpretation of the Guardian Council, has also been approved by the Parliament, and a president, regardless of which president, has issued the order for its execution. I doubt that their intention from this metaphor is to negate the law and negate supervisory oversight. Supervisory oversight is the law, and we are all subject to the law. The presidency and the Ministry of Interior are the executors of the law. It is unlikely that the executors of the law would come forth in a position of execution to negate legal rules." Nejatollah Ebrahimi criticized Hassan Rouhani's statement that the first Parliament after the Revolution was the best in the past nine terms, stating: "Another part of his remarks [Hassan Rouhani] referred to a first Parliament without the Guardian Council. The nature of the metaphor is such that it may extend to other cases. We should compare the first elected president without the Guardian Council with the first elected president with the Guardian Council; the first president with the Guardian Council is a source of pride for the Iranian nation and a model for all our presidents and political men, while the conditions and status of the first president without the Guardian Council are clear." The spokesman of the Guardian Council, however, stated: "I also acknowledge and confirm the characteristics and virtues of the first Parliament. However, we should not relate those virtues to the presence or absence of the Guardian Council. Those political and religious figures were the essence of five decades of jihad, asceticism, and ideological struggle, and most of them had no connection with the world and its worldly manifestations, money, power, wealth, and aristocracy." Nejatollah Ebrahimi, in an interview with the Javan newspaper, emphasized that those who participated in the 2009 protests committed "law-breaking and structural-breaking" actions that "equate to the absence of some conditions stipulated in the electoral law," stressing that "everyone has the right to volunteer; we not only have the right but also our duty to act decisively in accordance with the electoral law regarding oversight." The spokesman of the Guardian Council also rejected the Minister of Interior's statements, stating: "This claim that 'the relevant institutions for inquiries regarding these conditions are limited to the four authorities' is also not a valid claim according to the electoral regulations. Friends, please refer to the law. The law specifies conditions and obstacles that none of the four authorities have the legal capacity and competence to ascertain," and for example, regarding "not having a bad reputation in the electoral district, none of these four authorities; neither the police, nor the judiciary, nor the Ministry of Intelligence, nor the civil registry are responsible for examining bad reputation." The Javan newspaper also reported the spokesman of the Guardian Council's agreement with the government regarding transparent election boxes, stating: "We have agreed that a model of boxes that has been prepared as a box that meets legal conditions will be used; it can be seen inside, yet it is not so transparent that the writings can be read. We see the voting papers, but the writings cannot be read, meaning that the legal requirements have been met, and this was our agreement with the Ministry of Interior." Hassan Khomeini's readiness to accept responsibility; "I will not shirk." The newspaper Etemad reported on its front page Hassan Khomeini's readiness for the Assembly of Experts elections, stating: "Hassan Khomeini's readiness for the Assembly of Experts elections was mentioned during a meeting he had with reformists in Mazandaran province." According to this newspaper, during this meeting, Hassan Khomeini, referring to the advice of Ayatollah Khomeini to his son Ahmad Khomeini, stated: "Imam advised our father not to say do not accept a job in the Islamic Republic, if necessary, do all the work and accept any responsibility; but if others are there, let them do it," he said: "Therefore, if one day it is necessary for me to do something, shirking here is a wrong act, because personal prudence and self-preservation are not compatible with Imam's thoughts and our ideals." The newspaper Etemad described Hassan Khomeini's remarks as "a response based on a will," stating: "The 43-year-old legacy of the Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] does not want to shirk. A man who has been the number one protector of his grandfather's thoughts and works since the age of 23, now, 20 years after the loss of his father, seems to have passed a critical stage of a significant decision-making process. He recalls his grandfather's will to his father and states that if necessary, he will accept a responsibility." This newspaper referred to Hassan Khomeini as a "jurisprudent," stating: he "knows jurisprudence and writes poetry, understands philosophy, and everything written in jurisprudence and principles regarding the opinions and theories of his grandfather. His supporters are not few in both factions; the extremists who disrupted his speech had many sympathizers." Etemad, citing Hassan Khomeini's recent remarks, wrote that the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini "who these days many have pinned their hopes on his first political responsibility in the system implicitly announced that if necessary, he will come," while Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani "invited Hassan Khomeini to run for the Assembly of Experts elections nearly a month ago, but he had not responded," but now "it seems Hassan Khomeini is getting closer to the necessity that one day his grandfather reminded his father of." A member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament: "The amount of contracts for 25 missing rigs is $2.5 billion." The Iran newspaper quoted a member of the Energy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly stating that "the amount of the contract for 25 missing rigs is $2.5 billion." Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament, referring to the conclusion of fictitious contracts for the purchase of rigs during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, told this newspaper: "Currently, 18 to 25 cases are under discussion, and in total...