The grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been barred from running for a top clerical body, his family has said, as the country prepares for crucial elections next month.
The decision to bar Hassan Khomeini, who has close ties to reformists, is likely to serve as pushback against anyone proposing changes to the clerical government following the nuclear deal with world powers negotiated by the administration of Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani.
Khomeini planned to stand in the assembly of experts election, to be held the same day as Iran’s parliamentary elections, in which moderates hope to make gains. The 86-member body of clerics is elected by the public to eight-year terms. It serves a function similar to the Vatican’s college of cardinals, and will someday have to pick a successor to the 76-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It can also directly challenge the supreme leader’s rule, something it has never done before.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei became the country’s first supreme leader after leading Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
A final list of qualified nominees for the assembly of experts election is expected to be released on 16 February, just ahead of the 26 February election for both the assembly and Iran’s parliament.
On Tuesday, Ahmad Khomeini, the son of Hassan Khomeini, apparently made a post on Instagram saying his father had been barred from the election by Iran’s Guardian Council. The state-run IRNA news agency later reported details of the post.
It was captioned: “Last night, it was clarified that the Guardian Council could not approve the qualifications of my father and they could not learn about his qualifications.” Hassan Khomeini apparently did not attend an exam for the Guardian Council, something his son claimed was not required of others running for the council.
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