Iran leader orders election U-turn
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Reformist lawmaker Elaheh Koulaei, right, was among those disqualified from seeking re-election.
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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's supreme leader has told the state's top clerical body to reconsider the disqualifications of pro-reform electoral candidates, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the Guardian Council Wednesday and told them to review their decisions, which have sparked protests and a political crisis in Iran.
"Since distinguishing the qualification has different stages, we should not go far in confirming the qualification of the members of parliament," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
The report paraphrased Khamenei as telling the council that those whose "qualifications have approved so far should be reconfirmed, unless the contrary is proved."
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, secretary of the Guardian Council, delivered a report on the "different stages" of the February 20 general election to elect members of parliament for the 290-seat body.
Jannati said that the parliament has received complaints against the disqualification bid and that council members would examine them.
The Guardian Council, a group of mullahs and lawyers appointed by Khamenei, rules on the gamut of religious, political and societal matters in the country.
Khamenei's comment comes as Iranian reformist lawmakers Wednesday refused President Mohammad Khatami's call to end their protest over the disqualification of hundreds of the moderate legislative candidates.
Among those disqualified by the council were 80 members of parliament seeking new terms in the Feb. 20 balloting. All of those are allies of Khatami, a moderate.
One member of parliament turned in his resignation Wednesday. Other lawmakers in the four-day-old protest have threatened to resign their seats one by one until the council reverses its decision.
Sources said the council reversed itself Tuesday and approved the applications of about half of the sitting legislators, but the deputies said their protest would continue until all have been approved.
Reformers have made steady inroads in the Iranian electoral process since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, pledging to relax the hard-line ayatollahs' iron grip on Iranian society.
Although the council is selected by Khamenei, Khatami said he believes the disqualifications contradict the ayatollah's view, "and God willing, the Guardian Council will make amends."
Adding to the controversy, Ayatollah Mehdi Karrubi, president of the parliament, said he has documents showing the council signed on to a plan to get rid of reformists. Karrubi threatened to release the evidence if the candidates are not reinstated.
