University Professors to Rouhani: It Is Better Not to Hold Non-Competitive Elections

Nearly 300 university professors from Iran wrote an open letter to President Hassan Rouhani, expressing their "growing concern" over widespread disqualifications and stating that not holding "non-competitive and unfair" elections is preferable to holding them. The news website Kalemeh published the text of the letter from 296 university professors on Monday, February 8, in which they urged Rouhani's government to "make every effort to expand interaction and constructive dialogue for national reconciliation within the country" following the nuclear agreement with world powers. In the letter, criticism was directed at the "widespread disqualifications" of candidates for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts, with an expressed concern that not holding elections in a "competitive, fair, healthy, and inclusive" manner would lead to "frustration and lack of participation from many groups of people." The signatory professors emphasized that such an issue would "not only cause serious harm to the advancement of the country's affairs in the current conditions and in the coming years but would also have an immediate detrimental effect, weakening the country's position in regional and international interactions." Professors from universities in various cities and provinces of Iran, including Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, Yazd, Gilan, Mazandaran, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Yasuj, Birjand, Karaj, Ahvaz, Shahr-e Kord, Kerman, and Mashhad signed this letter. This letter was published at a time when the Iranian president had previously protested the widespread disqualification of reformists in the upcoming elections, stating, "If one faction is to participate in the elections and another is not, why are we holding elections?" However, Rouhani later urged the people to participate in the elections "under any circumstances." Thousands of reformist and non-principlist candidates for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts have been disqualified by election oversight bodies and the Guardian Council. Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Reformists' Policy Council, also announced that negotiations for the approval of prominent figures from this movement have not been successful. The elections for the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the fifth term of the Assembly of Experts will be held simultaneously on March 1.