Motahari: Ahmadinejad's Candidacy for Presidency Conditional on Trial

Ali Motahari, a representative of Tehran in the parliament, reacted to the possibility of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, re-entering politics and running for the presidency in the 96 elections, stating that he must be "tried in court" before running. According to the state news agency IRNA, Mr. Motahari emphasized on Tuesday, April 7, during a student meeting at the University of Science and Technology, that Mr. Ahmadinejad must first "appear in court regarding his actions during his eight years of presidency and only then can he nominate himself for the upcoming presidential elections." Mr. Motahari also mentioned that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not have "any votes from the people" due to his performance during his presidency. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had traveled to Amol on April 19. Some Iranian media have described the start of his travels as an attempt to return to Iranian politics and run for the presidency in the 96 elections. In contrast, Akbar Turkan, a senior advisor to Hassan Rouhani, referred to Mr. Ahmadinejad as a "burnt pawn" and stated that his time is "over." In recent weeks, reports have emerged regarding the latest status of the complaints filed against Mr. Ahmadinejad, with Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, announcing that this case is "in the preliminary investigation stage." Meanwhile, Mohsen Eftekhari, head of the Criminal Court of Tehran Province, also stated on Tuesday, April 24, that his case is "in the inquiry stage from various authorities." Mr. Eftekhari mentioned that the prolonged process of handling this case is due to inquiries from "various authorities" and stated that the delay is not related to Mr. Ahmadinejad's previous position. The first court session for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court was held on December 5, 2013, without his or his lawyer's presence, ultimately leading the judge to order a rescheduling. Shortly after Hassan Rouhani's victory in the 2013 presidential elections, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was summoned to court, but the judiciary spokesperson labeled the summons as "misleading" and stated that judiciary officials were unaware of this matter. The newspaper Shargh had previously reported the existence of "23 complaints against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the judiciary," including complaints from the parliament.