Police Commander of Mazandaran: Dual Nationals Will Abandon the Velayat-e Faqih

Masoud Jafari Nasab, the police commander of Mazandaran province, announced that some officials of the Islamic Republic hold 'dual citizenship' and stated that dual nationals will abandon the 'Velayat-e Faqih' in difficult times. According to a report on Thursday (January 21) by Fars News Agency, Mr. Jafari Nasab made this statement during the second memorial for '19 Martyrs of Law Enforcement' in Mazandaran. He did not name these officials, but mentioned that their children also hold 'dual citizenship' and that voters must be 'vigilant to elect those who are loyal to the ideals of the Imam and the martyrs.' The police commander also added, 'Those who do not kiss the chador of the mothers of martyrs have no place in the parliament elected by the Islamic nation of Iran.' His electoral stance comes at a time when the qualifications of a group of candidates for the upcoming elections have been widely rejected, and protests against the disqualification of candidates in Iran continue. The election monitoring bodies, which are affiliated with the Guardian Council, have either rejected or not confirmed the qualifications of more than 55% of the candidates for the parliamentary elections. The conservative-affiliated website 'Pars News' reported that 603 of the disqualified candidates were 'murderers' who had been convicted in courts. 'Pars News' also identified 570 disqualified candidates as 'thieves' and 415 as members of dissolved parties in Iran. According to this site, 176 candidates also held 'dual citizenship,' which is why their qualifications were rejected by the monitoring bodies. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, along with a group of his supporters, expressed concerns about 'Western infiltration' through 'agents' within the institutions of the Islamic Republic after signing the nuclear agreement. They have repeatedly warned in recent months about what they call the 'infiltration project' and stated that they will not allow a new 'fitna' to arise in the upcoming elections. The police commander of Mazandaran also mentioned that some individuals have prevented the 'eye of fitna from being blinded' and that 'we must still be vigilant about such individuals so that the Velayat does not remain alone.' He added, 'We must be careful about our behavior and actions so that the leadership is not harmed,' but some in Iran are 'dreaming of America.' The term 'fitna' is used by Iranian officials regarding the widespread protests against the presidential election in 2009. The protests against the election results were suppressed with dozens killed and injured, mass arrests of activists and protesters, and the house arrest of key figures, Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karroubi. In this context, the electronic holding of elections in Esfand has been announced as 'canceled,' a member of the Guardian Council denied 'consultations' with this body regarding the disqualifications, and the reaction to President Rouhani's protests was, 'The Guardian Council will not retreat in the face of uproar.'