Supreme Council of Provinces Requests Shahroudi to Facilitate Sepanta Niknam's Return to Yazd City Council

Morteza Alviri, the head of the Supreme Council of Provinces, announced that this council has requested Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, to intervene for the return of Sepanta Niknam to the Yazd City Council. Alviri wrote on Twitter: "The absence of Sepanta Niknam, a Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council, was supposed to be temporary, not left unresolved. Today, along with members of the Supreme Council of Provinces, we asked the head of the Expediency Discernment Council to resolve the issue." Sepanta Niknam, a Zoroastrian member of the Yazd City Council, was suspended from membership by a ruling from Branch 43 of the Administrative Justice Court due to a complaint from his conservative rival, Ali Asghar Bagheri, who argued that Niknam's non-Muslim status disqualified him. This complaint was filed four months after the elections, referencing a directive from the Secretary of the Guardian Council at the time of candidate approvals. Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, had stated based on the 'Nafi Sabil' rule that non-Muslims cannot hold positions in city councils, arguing that non-Muslims should not have authority over Muslims. However, Sepanta Niknam had previously served as a member of the Yazd City Council during its fourth term. Furthermore, Jannati's directive contradicts Clause 1 of Article 26 of the City Council Elections Law, which was approved in June 1996 and confirmed by the Guardian Council. According to this clause, recognized religious minorities must adhere to their own religious principles instead of Islam. In response to Jannati's directive, the parliament added two clauses to the council law to clarify the eligibility of religious minorities for membership in city and village councils. However, the Guardian Council rejected this parliamentary decision, and the parliament sent it to the Expediency Discernment Council for resolution. The parliamentary decision also faces opposition from others, including Esfandiar Ekhtiyari, the representative of Zoroastrians, who believes that the right to membership in city councils has always existed based on constitutional principles and that no new law is necessary. Ekhtiyari stated, "A right has been eliminated in this election, and what is mentioned in this law has always existed and should be applied in the fifth city council as well."