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Image From Saeed Jalili's Twitter Campaign: 'The Coalition Of The People + 1

After ten days of intense speculation, the Guardian Council is expected to release its final list of candidates for the June Presidential election today. The supervisory body is expected to pass the list to the Interior Ministry, who will make an announcement to the media.

Key questions include whether the Guardian Council will allow former President Hashemi Rafsanjani to run or whether it will find a way to disqualify him. On Monday, the Council's spokesman announced that candidates would be assessed on grounds of "physical condition" --- likely a hint that the 78-year-old Rafsanjani could be barred from the race on grounds of age.

The question also remains whether the Guardian Council will allow outgoing President Ahmadinejad's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei --- whom his critics say is part of a "deviant current" and who has caused controversy with statements on key issues from Islam to foreign affairs --- to run. Ayatollah Mohammad Mesbah-Yazdi, for example, has dubbed Mashaei's remarks "inappropriate".

Meanwhile, Supreme National Security Council secretary Saeed Jalili continues to forge ahead as a front-runner, with his main rival from the Perseverance Front, Kamran Baqeri Lankarani, announcing he was withdrawing from the race on Monday.

We will post an analysis of these questions and their significance later this morning.

Internet Slowed, Reports of Riot Police on Streets

An EA correspondent confirms reports that the Internet slowed to the point of non-existence in Iran on Tuesday and that riot police were out in major locations in Tehran.

Supreme Leader Offers Consolation to Disqualified Presidential Hopefuls

The Supreme Leader has tried to assure candidates rejected by the Guardian Council, "You may not be qualified for the job, but you have many other qualifications."

Rafsanjani, Ahmadinejad's Right-Hand Man Rahim-Mashai Disqualified as Guardian Council Approves 8 to Run

The official Twitter account of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani confirms the news that he has been disqualified by the Guardian Council.

آیت الله هاشمی رفسنجانی برای کاندیداتوری در انتخابات یازدهم ریاست جمهوری رد صلاحیت شد
— هاشمی رفسنجانی (@hashemi1392) May 21, 2013

According to State TV and Iranian media, the Ministry of Interior --- which was not supposed to reveal the Guardian Council's approved list until Wednesday --- has confirmed that eight candidates (see previous entry) have been allowed to campaign.

President Ahmadinejad's right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai has also been disqualified.

Presidential Election Watch: Eight Candidates Approved; Rafsanjani Rejected?

Mehr News is reporting “on the basis of anecdotal evidence that the Guardian Council approved eight people” to run in the presidential campaign – conspicuous by his absence from the list, however, is former president Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The eight candidates who have been approved, according to Mehr, are Saeed Jalili, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Gholamali Haddad-Adel, Ali Akbar Velayati, Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Gharazi, Mohsen Rezaei, and Mohammad Reza Aref.

While the most notable aspect of this list – if true – is the rejection of Rafsanjani, it also reveals that the Guardian Council rejected the candidacy of President Ahmadinejad’s right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei.

If the list is accurate, then it goes some way to answering two of the questions posed in the analysis posted this morning, although Rafsanjani may yet be able to appeal directly to the Supreme Leader to issue a decree allowing him to run. So far, Rafsanjani’s campaign has yet to respond except to tweet Mehr News’s claims:

ادعای خبرگزاری مهر: حداد عادل، سعید جلیلی، محسن رضایی، حسن روحانی، عارف، قالیباف، محمد غرضی و ولایتی تایید صلاحیت شدند/ هاشمی تایید نشد!
— هاشمی رفسنجانی (@hashemi1392) May 21, 2013

Other Iranian news sources are also not reporting this 8-man list, with Fars News encouraging people to be patient and wait for the Guardian Council’s decision and PressTV noting that 115 members of Majlis, as well as a number of religious scholars, have urged the Guardian Council to disapprove Rafsanjani’s candidacy.

Presidential Election Watch: Rafsanjani Edition

Presidential hopeful Hashemi Rafsanjani has taken to Twitter to claim that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has endorsed his candidacy.

روزنامه الحیات به نقل از منابعی که با آیت الله سیستانی دیدار کرده بودند ، از حمایت این مرجع تقلید از کاندیداتوری هاشمی رفسنجانی خبر داد
— هاشمی رفسنجانی (@hashemi1392) May 21, 2013

Presidential Election Watch: Need to Comply with Guardian Council

Fars News is reporting that Grand Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani, a long-time critic of the Supreme Leader, has said that all candidates and groups will have to comply with the Guardian Council’s decision on who will be allowed to run in the presidential election.

Gorgani continued that it was the duty of Iranians to put aside their differences in order to maintain the reputation of the system.

Presidential Election Watch: Rafsanjani Edition

In an apparent reference to yesterday’s pronouncement by the Guardian Council that it might assess candidates on “physical grounds”, Ayatollah Haeri Shirazi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, has written to the Supreme Leader urging him to allow “maximum participation” in the elections. Shirazi suggested that excluding persons is “incompatible” with the aim of “creating a political saga, even if the justification of exclusion is justifiable.”

Former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, towards whom the Guardian Council’s statement was directed, endorsed Shirazi’s comments via his Twitter account:

نامه آیت الله حایری شیرازی به رهبر انقلاب: حماسه سیاسی در انتخابات وقتی تحقق می یابد که افراد رده اول دو طرف در رقابت حاضر باشند
— هاشمی رفسنجانی (@hashemi1392) May 21, 2013

Presidential Election Watch: Principlist Edition

Presidential candidate, Ali Akbar Velayati, has declared that the Principlists will “ultimately choose one candidate” to represent them in the forthcoming election.

These latest comments by Velayati, who is a member of the principlist 2+1 Coalition designated by the Supreme Leader to find a “unity candidate” five months ago, come after Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel yesterday raised the possibility of the 2+1 Coalition “negotiating” with the apparent front-runner Saeed Jalili.

Presidential Election Watch: Ahmadinejad Edition

Digarban reports that a number of clergy and non-clergy supporters of the current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were arrested by security forces yesterday. The website, Network of Iran, which is close to Ahmadinejad, called the arrests “irrational and unjustified” and questioned their “justification.”

Ahmadinejad’s chosen successor and presidential hopeful, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, suggested they would appeal directly to the Supreme Leader to resolve the situation.

Presidential Election Watch: Rafsanjani Lashes Out On Twitter

Former President and Presidential candidate Hashemi Rafsanjani has used his Twitter account to hit back at his rivals.

Earlier today, Rafsanjani subtly hit back at criticisms that he was too old to run.

The former President later on Tuesday made a far more direct attack --- albeit without naming specific individuals --- saying that "the attempts of some Principlist media outlets, especially those belonging to the establishment, to defame and destroy their rivals in the elections is amazing.

تلاش بعضی از رسانه‌های مدعی اصولگرایی بخصوص رسانه‌های متعلق به بیت‌المال برای بدنام کردن رقیب و تخریب آن در ایام انتخابات شگفت‌انگیز است
— هاشمی رفسنجانی (@hashemi1392) May 21, 2013

Presidential Election Watch: Final List Of Candidates To Be Announced Wednesday

The Interior Ministry will announce the final list of candidates for the June 14 Presidential election on Wednesday, Deputy Interior Minister Seyyed Solat Mortazavi has said. The Guardian Council is expected to pass the final list of candidates to the Interior Ministry sometime today.

Mortazavi also announced that those candidates allowed to run would be permitted to begin election campaigning at 8 a.m. Tehran time (3.30 a.m. GMT) on Friday. Campaigning will continue for 20 days.

Presidential Election Watch: Jalili Edition --- Saeed Gets Down With The Kids

Fars News --- close to the Revolutionary Guards --- reports that Saeed Jalili's election campaign has opened a new headquarters for young people.

The campaign headquarters has a name guaranteed to appeal to Iran's youth --- "The Path Of The Imam"

New #Jalili campaign headquarter for youth named "The Path of Imam" was created. #iranelection #iran
— Dr Saeed Jalili (@DrSaeedJalili) May 20, 2013

Fars News, which has apparently been backing Jalili for days, is now going as far as to direct readers to his campaign website in its news reports.

Presidential Election Watch: Rafsanjani Edition

Following speculation on Monday that the Guardian Council could disqualify him on grounds of age, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani hit back subtly this morning via Twitter.

Citing Ayatollah Vaez Mousavi, the representative of Iran's Assembly of Experts, Rafsanjani tweeted that Grand Ayatollah Ali Araki --- considered to be the world's most eminent Shiite cleric --- had continued in his work until age 100.

آیت الله واعظ موسوی: آیت الله اراکی(ره) در سن 100 سالگی، مسئولیت مرجعیت تشیع به دوشش گذاشته شد
— هاشمی رفسنجانی (@hashemi1392) May 21, 2013