Hassan Rouhani Responds to Guardian Council in 'Letter to the People': 'The Directly Elected Highest Official of the Nation Has No Freedom of Expression Even as a Citizen'

Hassan Rouhani, the former president of Iran, in a letter addressed to 'the people of Iran' in response to his disqualification from the elections last December, stated that 'the letter from the Guardian Council [explaining the reasons for my disqualification] proves to me that the highest directly elected official of the Iranian people does not enjoy the right to freedom of expression even as a citizen!' Rouhani had previously announced that following correspondence with the Guardian Council over the past few months, he would publicly publish his response to the reasons for his disqualification in the Assembly of Experts elections. In a detailed part of his letter regarding his disqualification, he emphasized that 'after several official correspondences with the Guardian Council to announce the reasons for my disqualification in the sixth Assembly of Experts elections, a confidential letter signed by the secretary of this council was finally received.' He noted: 'This letter is in fact an indictment against the presidency and the government of hope and prudence, not just against me.' The former president stressed that the content of the Guardian Council's letter 'proves that the highest directly elected official of the Iranian people does not enjoy the right to freedom of expression even as a citizen,' and his statements about other institutions in the country, including the Guardian Council, the judiciary, the legislative branch, and other institutions 'could become evidence of a crime against him!' In part of his open letter, Rouhani wrote that what is stated in the Guardian Council secretary's letter 'as evidence of disqualification' in the Assembly of Experts elections is 'not only not a crime or even an offense, but in some cases is a source of pride for me.' The former president emphasized that the Guardian Council, in stating the reasons for 'my disqualification,' refers to the record of 'the legal president of the country' in a manner that 'as if the second highest official of the country is the opposition to the regime, and this council, which has confirmed my qualifications twice in presidential elections and five times in the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections and three times in the Assembly of Experts elections, has made a mistake.' Hassan Rouhani questioned in his letter, 'Is the disqualification of former presidents and some other heads of branches not undermining the republic of the system?' He referred to the clerics of the Guardian Council responsible for confirming qualifications in the Assembly of Experts elections, asking: 'In which elections and by the vote of which nation have these clerics obtained the right to deprive the elected representatives of the people of their right to choose? With what legal and religious authority, which must either be delegated by the people or confirmed by the authority of reference, has the Guardian Council made the people's election a two-stage process?' The former president questioned whether the rule of 'conflict of interest' applies to the clerics of the Guardian Council who are both candidates in the Assembly of Experts elections and assess the qualifications of their competitors. Rouhani further emphasized that today, according to the law of the Assembly of Experts, 'the clerics of the Guardian Council have gained dominance over the Experts,' asking whether 'the people have a positive judgment about their impartiality?' The former president's criticism of his disqualification in the elections last December comes at a time when the disqualification of critics in elections has a history as long as this regime's existence, and Hassan Rouhani, who has previously held the highest political, security, and economic positions, has not taken a clear stance against this trend until now. The content of the Guardian Council's explanations for his disqualification has not been published in Rouhani's letter. However, he had previously stated that the reasons for his disqualification included 'allegations of insulting the judiciary and the Guardian Council' and 'failure to stand against the West' and 'issues in implementing the JCPOA, etc.' In Bahman 1402 (February 2024), the former president, after being disqualified for candidacy in the Assembly of Experts elections, issued a statement demanding the announcement of the reasons for it. He questioned, 'Why are the reasons for disqualification not announced?' accusing the Guardian Council of 'strengthening the despairing current' from participating in elections. Rouhani also repeatedly requested written reasons and documents for his disqualification in the sixth round of the Assembly of Experts elections. During the 1402 elections, Hassan Rouhani, who held the presidency in the Islamic Republic for eight years and had previously served for two decades as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, the highest security body of the Iranian government, was disqualified by the Guardian Council's decision for candidacy in the Assembly of Experts elections. Many senior officials and government heads in the Islamic Republic, including Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have also been disqualified in various periods after holding high positions in the system and are no longer among the main actors in the political scene. On the line: The least public participation in elections and record-breaking invalid votes. The spokesperson for the Guardian Council responded to Hassan Rouhani's objection to his disqualification: 'These remarks are not new.' Hassan Rouhani stated that the reasons for his disqualification were related to the implementation of the JCPOA and 'insulting the Guardian Council.' Participation 'less than 35 percent' in the elections of the Islamic Republic; intra-governmental competition extended to the second round in 15 provinces.