Qualification of Zoroastrian Member of Yazd City Council Approved

On Thursday, September 21, the Secretary of the Supervisory Board for Islamic City and Village Council Elections in Yazd Province announced the re-approval of the Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council by the legal committee of this board. According to ISNA news agency, Ali Afkhami stated: "Considering the ruling of the Administrative Justice Court regarding the suspension of Sepanta Niknam's activities, a three-member legal committee of the Supervisory Board for Islamic City and Village Council Elections in Yazd Province convened and confirmed Mr. Niknam's qualification, declaring that the candidacy, qualification approval, and election process were legal and had no legal issues given the approval of the executive and supervisory board." He added that the principle of the Administrative Justice Court's intervention in the suspension of a city council member is disputed, stating: "The Supervisory Board for City and Village Council Elections in Yazd Province will send a letter to the Administrative Justice Court with the legal committee's opinion and the results of its review after the meeting." Previously, the representative of Zoroastrians in the Parliament described the Administrative Justice Court's ruling to temporarily suspend Sepanta Niknam's activities as "an innovation," and the political deputy of Yazd's governor also announced that a response had been sent to this court regarding the matter. According to ISNA, Esfandiar Ekhtiyari, the representative of Zoroastrians in Parliament, said on Thursday: "If this innovation of the Administrative Justice Court becomes permanent, it can affect all future elections." He announced that the Supervisory Board for Council Elections has given a "promising" commitment to resolve this issue. Following a complaint by Ali Asghar Bagheri, one of the defeated candidates for the Yazd City Council, the Administrative Justice Court issued a ruling temporarily suspending Sepanta Niknam's membership in the Yazd City Council. Meanwhile, the political, security, and social deputy of Yazd's governor announced that the governor's office has prepared a "substantial legal response" and sent it to the Administrative Justice Court, awaiting the court's response. The ruling of the Administrative Justice Court referenced the opinion of the Guardian Council's clerics regarding the prohibition of electing religious minorities as members of the city council. This opinion from the Guardian Council's clerics had also been a point of contention between this council and the supervisory board for elections, which is affiliated with the Parliament, and ultimately, this board did not accept the Guardian Council's opinion. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, in a letter dated April 15, referred to Article 4 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, Articles 19 and 21 of the internal regulations of the Guardian Council, and the clerics' opinion regarding the first clause of Article 26 of the Council Law, calling for the disqualification of non-Muslim minority candidates in areas where the majority of the population is Muslim. This directive elicited negative reactions from some members of Parliament, and Qasem Mirzaei and Esfandiar Ekhtiyari, two members of Parliament, reported that Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, instructed the Central Supervisory Board for Council Elections to implement the law in these elections, effectively rejecting the directive from the Secretary of the Guardian Council. Ultimately, the supervisory boards for council elections approved the qualifications of several religious minorities. The Islamic City Council of Yazd consists of 11 main members and seven alternate members, with Sepanta Niknam elected as the seventh member of the city council.