Tehran Bureau has compiled a round-up of seasoned lawmakers as well as lesser-known members of parliament whose candidacies illustrate a realignment of Iran’s political scene. These examples start with the more reform-minded and move across the political spectrum to the most conservative.
Mohammad Reza Aref
Reformist politician Aref was first vice president under President Mohammad Khatami (1997 to 2005). He is currently a member of the expediency discernment council, an advisory body to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Aref held different posts during Khatami’s presidency, including the minister of information and communications technology from 1997 to 2000, and vice president from 2001 to 2005. Aref registered as a parliamentary candidate for the 2008 election, but later withdrew to protest the disqualification of reformist candidates by the executive and supervisory boards.
Born in 1951 in Iran’s central city of Yazd, Aref holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He has taught at various Iranian universities since 1982.
On 15 February, he attended an event at Amirkabir University along with Ali Motahari demanding the release of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the Green Movement leaders who have been under house arrest since 2011. “The house arrest should either come to an end, or a legal authority should decide upon it,” he said.
Aref remains a supporter of Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Soheila Jelodarzadeh
A reformist candidate, Jelodarzadeh has served as a representative in three different parliaments. She has been the only woman to serve on the parliamentary board of directors, a post she held from 2002-2004.
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