Hardliners In Iran Bar Ex-President Rouhani From Elections
Iran InternationalJan 24
Iran Bans Ex-Pres. Rouhani From Re-election to Elite Council
The Facts
Iran on Wednesday banned the moderate former Pres. Hassan Rouhani from contesting in the March 1 election for the 88-member Assembly of Experts.
The assembly — which has the power to select and expel the nation's supreme leader — will choose the successor to current Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei. The 84-year-old has held the position since 1989.
The Spin
Anti-Iran narrative
It doesn't look like the Guardian Council takes well to moderate candidates, as seen by the rejection of Rouhani's candidature and the hundreds of parliamentary hopefuls who don't conform to the regime's extreme doctrine. This engineered election will undoubtedly see a weak voter turnout, which will only further expose the regime's illegitimacy.
Pro-Iran narrative
Iran's Supreme Leader, Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, has called for a fair parliamentary election in March, while the Guardian Council has done its due diligence to ensure that its candidate vetting process complies with its legal obligations. It's now the responsibility of the electorate to vote in the upcoming elections.
Nerd narrative
Iran has a 25% chance of experiencing a successful coup d'etat before 2040, according to the Metaculus forecasting community.