Ministry of Interior Unaware of Reasons for Annulment of Votes in Isfahan

The Deputy Minister of Interior referred to the annulment of the votes for the third elected representative of Isfahan in the parliamentary elections, stating that nothing has been communicated to this ministry regarding the annulment and suggested asking the Guardian Council for the reason. According to IRNA, Hossein Ali Amiri, the Deputy Minister of Interior of Iran, said on Tuesday, April 9, about the annulment of votes for one of the elected representatives of Isfahan in the 10th Parliament: "This matter is under investigation." He further stated regarding the reason for the annulment of votes for the third elected representative of this city: "Ask the Guardian Council about this." Mr. Amiri emphasized that the Guardian Council has not communicated the reasons for this annulment to the Ministry of Interior either. According to the Deputy Minister of Interior, the Guardian Council has so far confirmed the validity of elections in all constituencies except for four, including Makoo, Boyer-Ahmad, and Dehloran. In an interview with IRNA, Mr. Amiri also announced regarding the Isfahan constituency: "There is a legal disagreement in this matter; the Guardian Council's opinion is that the votes should be annulled, which has been announced." He emphasized regarding the Ministry of Interior's opinion that "we must wait." The Deputy Minister of Interior had previously stated in late Esfand that the results of the parliamentary elections in Isfahan "regarding one of the elected representatives" might change, but the "validity" of the elections in this constituency "is not in dispute." Earlier, Rasoul Zargarpour, the governor of Isfahan, had reported that the Guardian Council annulled the votes of Minoo Khalighi, the third elected representative of this city in the 10th Islamic Consultative Assembly. Mr. Zargarpour had said during a press conference on Wednesday, April 4, that he had requested the Minister of Interior to inquire about the reason for this issue from the Guardian Council. The governor of Isfahan reported that the elected individual has also protested this matter. Minoo Khalighi, one of the candidates supported by reformists in Isfahan, entered the Islamic Consultative Assembly as the third representative from this city with approximately 193,000 votes, according to the Ministry of Interior. Ms. Khalighi also stated in a statement that "so far, she has not received any notification regarding electoral violations or other matters concerning her disqualification" and "has not had any meetings with the members of the Guardian Council and the supervisory board since the start of the election campaign." The city of Isfahan has five representatives in the parliament, and the votes of the other four have been confirmed by the Guardian Council. According to the results announced by the Ministry of Interior, Hamid Reza Fooladgar with 200,690 votes, Nahid Taj al-Din with 195,066 votes, Minoo Khalighi with 193,399 votes, Haidar Ali Abedi with 179,230 votes, and Ahmad Salek with 176,807 votes were elected from the Isfahan constituency. Nahid Taj al-Din, Minoo Khalighi, and Haidar Ali Abedi were candidates supported by reformists, while Hamid Reza Fooladgar and Ahmad Salek were candidates supported by conservatives in Isfahan.