Rafsanjani's Supporters Demand Clarification from Interior Minister on Banner Removal and Youth Arrests

The popular support committee for Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has written a letter to the Interior Minister requesting clarification on the reasons for the removal of the committee's banners on February 11 and the brief detention of several young collaborators. According to ILNA, an Iranian labor news agency, this committee, formed in support of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani's candidacy in the fifth Assembly of Experts elections, stated that the removal of banners and the arrests occurred in the early hours of the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution and after the legal campaign period for the Assembly of Experts elections began, and without a judicial order. Earlier reports in domestic media indicated that the popular support committee for Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had begun its activities 'centered around reformist forces and Rafsanjani supporters' and in coordination with the 'Coordination Council of the Reform Front' and the 'Central Headquarters of Hashemi Rafsanjani.' The letter from Rafsanjani's popular committee did not provide further details about the authorities responsible for the arrests and banner removals. According to this committee, the removed banners included 'a verse from the Quran, images of the Revolution Leader, the Presidency, the Imam's heir, and Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.' Recently, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani has strongly protested the actions of the Guardian Council's supervisory bodies in disqualifying many candidates for the Assembly of Experts and the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections. Among the disqualified candidates is Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, to whom Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani reacted by questioning the Guardian Council about the source of their own qualifications. The National Election Headquarters published the final list of candidates for the fifth Assembly of Experts elections on Wednesday, indicating that only 161 candidates were approved across Iran, with some electoral districts having only one candidate remaining. The electoral districts of Bushehr, North Khorasan, Semnan, and Hormozgan are four provinces where only one candidate has been approved. The Assembly of Experts is an institution that elects the successor to the Supreme Leader in the event of resignation or death. This round of Assembly of Experts elections will be held simultaneously with the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections on March 1. In this context, the Guardian Council once again disqualified Hassan Khomeini for the Experts Assembly, announcing the final candidates for the Experts; there is no competition in six electoral districts. The Assembly of Experts elections have become a quiet backyard that has become unsettled.