Iran Today: Presidential Election --- Last Day Of Candidate Declarations<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/11/iran-today-presidential-election-last-day-of-candidate-decla.html>
inShare Saturday, May 11, 2013 at 6:28 | Joanna Paraszczuk<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/author/joanna-paraszczuk> in EA Iran <http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-iran>, EA Live<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-live> , Middle East and Iran<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/middle-east-and-iran> *President Ahmadinejad and his right-hand man, Presidential candidate Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, at the election centre today* ------------------------------ *It is the last day for hopefuls to register as candidates in Iran's Presidential election, scheduled for 14 June. Among the big questions:* *1. When will President Ahmadinejad's camp put forth its candidate? Will it be Ahmadinejad's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, or --- anticipating the Guardian Council's rejection of Rahim-Mashai --- will the President's inner circle unveil an alternative such as former Government spokesperson Gholam Hossein Elham or Minister of Transport Ali Nikzad?* *2. Will former President Hashemi Rafsanjani enter the contest? His office has announced a press conference for 3 p.m. local time (1030 GMT).* *3. Will the Supreme Leader's 2+1 Committee make any move for a "unity" candidate? Indications are that they will put this off, with all three members putting in their names and a final decision later this month after the Guardian Council's vetting of the candidates.* ------------------------------ *Presidential Election Watch: Rafsanjani Enters Race* Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has filed his candidacy<http://farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13920220000302> just before the deadline --- "in the 90th minute", as Fars News Agency puts it. *Presidential Election Watch: Supreme Leader's Advisor Velayati Declares Candidacy* The third member of the Supreme Leader's 2+1 Committee, senior advisor Ali Akbar Velayati, has registered<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/11/iran-today-presidential-election-last-day-of-candidate-decla.html> . Velayati follows the other two members, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf and leading Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, in formally declaring. The Committee has said that it will not name a single candidate until the Guardian Council has vetted the Presidential hopefuls. *Presidential Election Watch: Ahmadinejad's Right-Hand Man Is Running* President Ahmadinejad's confidante and former Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, has registered his candidacy<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/11/iran-today-presidential-election-last-day-of-candidate-decla.html> . Ahmadinejad was present at the election centre<http://farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13920221001151> as Rahim-Mashai filed. Another Ahmadinejad ally, former media advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, has also formally declared. Last year Javanfekr was imprisoned over a special issue of his Iran newspaper. He was granted prison leave to register. *Presidential Election Watch: Jalili Running for Supreme Leader's Men?; Intimadation of Rafsanjani?* Back from a Saturday break to find important news from an EA correspondent.... 1. The Secretary of the National Security Council and Iran's lead nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, has registered as a candidate. Last week, we speculated that Jalili might be the eventual choice of the Supreme Leader's office, given the apparent failure of any of the three men of the "2+1 Committee" to get the endorsement. Is this coming to pass? 2. Among the other declared candidates is Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast and MP Masoud Pezeshkian. Former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who in the "Coalition of 5", has said that since he does not believe in the coalition's choice of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi Fard, he will register this afternoon. Davood Ahmadinejad, a vocal critic of his brother's Presidency, registered earlier today. 3. Reports continue that Government supporters have gathered in front of the office of former Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, shouting slogans against them and preventing any registration of their candidacies. *Claim: Leading Clerics Call on Rafsanjani to Run* The opposition site Kalemeh asserts that Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the leading Shia cleric in Iraq, and Iran's Grand Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani have asked former President Hashemi Rafsanjani<http://kaleme.com/1392/02/21/klm-143049/> to run in this year's election. *Prominent Figures Blocked from Standing in Local Elections* Is this a sign of developments to come in the Presidential campaign? Officials have begun the rejection<http://www.mehrnews.com/detail/News/2051895> of hopefuls from local elections, to be held at the same time as the Presidential ballot. Among those who have been blocked are Mohsen Hashemi, the son of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Vice President Massoumeh Ebtekar, and former reformist MP Fatehmeh Rakei. *Syria Watch: Armed Forces Chief of Staff Praises Hezbollah, Assad* Maj. Gen. Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi, the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, has praised Hezbollah's role in "shaping the resistance" in Syria, according to Sepah News, <http://sepahnews.com/>the Revolutionary Guards' official public relations site. Firouzabadi said that Bashar al-Assad's "strong will" coupled with Hezbollah's "resistance" was consistent across Syria. Syria's victory against "idolatry, arrogance and Wahhabi extremism" was centered around Assad and had been achieved because of his "resistance and courageous intelligence and support for the Syrian national consciousness", Firouzabadi said. *Election Watch: Qalibaf and Davood Ahmadinejad Register* ** Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Davood Ahmadinejad --- brother of the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad --- registered their candidacies on Saturday morning, the final day for presidential hopefuls to formally declare their wish to run. Davood Ahmadinejad was the first presidential hopeful to register on Saturday, attending the Interior Ministry at 08:30 Tehran time, and told reporters he intended to run as an independent candidate, according to the Tabnak news website. Qalibaf is the second member of the pro-Khamenei 2+1 Committee to register. Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel put his name down to run on Friday, leaving only Khamenei senior aide Ali Akbar Velayati. Javad Etaat, a professor of political science at Shahid Behesti University also registered on Saturday morning. Following the disputed 2009 elections, Etaat criticized state media, <http://enduringamerica.squarespace.com/january-2010/2010/1/16/updated-iran-video-translation-dr-etaats-opposition-on-state.html>accusing state broadcaster IRIB of being one-sided in its election coverage. http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/11/iran-today-presidential-election-last-day-of-candidate-decla.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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