Rouhani Emphasizes the Need for 'Legal and Healthy' Elections in the Country

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, emphasized the necessity of having a 'legal and healthy' electoral atmosphere during a meeting in Mashhad on Friday, December 20. He stated that 'all individuals interested in serving the people should be present in the electoral scene.' According to Iranian news agencies, Rouhani, speaking at the Coordination and Planning Council meeting of Khorasan Razavi province, stressed: 'Efforts must be made to ensure that the electoral atmosphere in the country is legal, healthy, and vibrant, and that all individuals interested in serving the people participate in the competition.' The elections for the fifth term of the Assembly of Experts and the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly will be held in Esfand this year in Iran. In this context, the Ministry of Interior announced on Friday that the Minister of Interior of the eleventh government has issued an order to 'begin the process of conducting the elections for the Assembly of Experts.' According to the directive from Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, addressed to the governors of the electoral districts across Iran, the registration period for candidates for the Assembly of Experts elections has been announced for one week starting from December 26. Traditionally, the elections for the Assembly of Experts have been held with fewer sensitivities compared to the elections for the Islamic Consultative Assembly, but this time, political observers and media in Iran consider it to be of greater importance. Among the well-known figures who have announced their candidacy for the Assembly of Experts elections is Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Council and a current member of the Assembly of Experts. Last week, Ali Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, also announced the certainty of his older brother Hassan Khomeini's candidacy for this election, which was met with a wave of reactions on social media. This is the first time Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, is putting himself forward for election. Following Hassan Khomeini's announcement of his candidacy for the Assembly of Experts, the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, speculated about the candidacy of Hassan Rouhani, the President, for this election, reporting on the triangle of Hashemi Rafsanjani, Khomeini, and Rouhani as the triangle of reformists and moderates against the triangle of principlists comprising Mesbah Yazdi, Mohammadi Kermani, and Mohammad Yazdi. Ayatollah Mohammad Mousavi Bojnourdi, a student of Ayatollah Khomeini and the father of Hassan Khomeini's wife, is also among the reformist figures who have announced their intention to participate in this election. This member of the Combatant Clergy Association has emphasized that after Hassan Khomeini's candidacy announcement, he has decided to 'run alongside him in the Assembly of Experts elections.' Additionally, on Friday, the Khabar Online news agency reported the beginning of negotiations for Ayatollah Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad's participation in the Assembly of Experts elections from Yazd province. Khabar Online identified those trying to persuade Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad to participate in the Assembly of Experts elections as 'supporters of the eleventh government.' Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad is a professor at Shahid Beheshti University Law School, a member of the Academy of Sciences of Iran, and the granddaughter of Abdul Karim Haeri Shirazi, the founder of the Qom Seminary. Mohaghegh Damad, who held the presidency of the General Inspection Organization during Ayatollah Khomeini's lifetime, is married into the Larijani family. Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence and a current member of the Assembly of Experts, Majid Ansari, Hassan Rouhani's deputy and a former representative of the Assembly of Experts, and Ali Younesi, the Minister of Intelligence during Mohammad Khatami's government, are among the prominent figures close to reformists and moderates who are expected to participate in this electoral competition. Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary and a current representative of the Assembly of Experts, and Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, the representative of Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and a current member of the Assembly of Experts, are also principlist figures who have announced their intention to participate in the fifth election of the Assembly of Experts. Amoli Larijani has emphasized that he will run for the Assembly of Experts from the Mazandaran province electoral district. The Assembly of Experts will have 88 members in its fifth term. This assembly, composed of 'qualified' jurists based on Article 107 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is responsible for appointing and overseeing the leader of the Islamic Republic. Each term of this assembly lasts for eight years.