Grandson of Iran’s Islamic Republic founder barred from poll

Hassan Khomeini, 43, a grandson of Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, talks to journalists after he registered for February’s election of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that chooses the supreme leader, at Interior Ministry in Tehran December 18, 2015. The news is a blow to moderate and reformist political camps in Iran, which view Khomeini as an ally and were counting on his hallowed family name to get him past the vetting process.

Khomeini had hoped to be a candidate for election to the Assembly of Experts, a powerful group of clerics which monitors the work of Iran’s current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and will be responsible for selecting his successor.

A caption on the post read: “Last night, it was clarified that the Guardian Council could not approved the qualifications of my father and they could not learn about his qualifications” based on the evidence they had.

The Assembly of Experts is comprised of 86 Islamic scholars (Mujtahids) who are elected by the public to eight-year terms. The hard-liners are likely to try to prune the field, but the moderates have prepared by registering so many candidates for the Majlis – by one count, there are more than 12,000 people running – that a total purge would undermine the election’s credibility.

A Guardian Council spokesman, quoted on state television’s website, said rejected candidates had until January 30 to lodge an appeal.

Despite his revolutionary lineage, Hassan Khomeini is politically moderate and close to several reformist politicians who were sidelined after disputed presidential elections in 2009.

Hassan Khomeini later verified that claim on his own Instagram account by reposting what his son wrote, and adding that he would publicly discuss the matter on Thursday.

Hassan Khomeini did not sit for a jurisprudence exam, which the council announced for the first time as a requirement for those seeking to run for membership of the Assembly of Experts. Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was among those authorized to run for the Assembly of Experts, the Iranian Labour News Agency reported.