Iran Council bars 650 candidates from race

NICOSIA -- A final list of Iranian parliamentary candidates was submitted on Friday to the Interior Ministry, with about 650 applicants rejected either because they were too young, uneducated or had conflicts of interests.

The Guardians Council and the Interior Ministry disqualified 650 out of 7,000 applicants to run in the Feb. 18 elections. About 50 were directly rejected by the council, which is headed by supporters of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

"The reasons for the rejection of most of the candidates were that they did not have the educational qualifications, were not old enough or had not resigned their posts when they were legally obligated to," council spokesman Reza Ostadi said.

For the first time, the council had to explain its rejection of candidates and bring evidence. The council disqualified 402 nominees whose eligibility had been approved by the Interior Ministry.

"This council does not favor any particular faction or individuals," Ostadi said. "When the final results are announced, the people will definitely make a fair judgment."

The race for parliament is being regarded as a struggle between conservative forces and those aligned with reformers. Western diplomats said they expect Khamenei to position himself as kingmaker in sharing power in parliament.