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Hundreds Register To Run In Iran Election

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

TEHRAN, Iran - Close to 400 people registered as candidates Saturday for Iranian parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The elections will not change the direction of Iran's nuclear policies, which are determined by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but they will be a key test of Ahmadinejad's hold on power and a key indicator for the 2009 presidential elections.

Iran's Interior Ministry said 385 people registered over the Internet for the elections, which will be held March 14, state television reported.

The hard-line Guardian Council will begin screening candidates in a week, stoking fears of a replay of the 2004 legislative elections when the committee barred thousands of reformists from running.

The mass disqualification allowed hardliners to regain control of the 290-seat parliament in a vote the reformists denounced as a "historical fiasco."

Key members of the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, are hand-picked by Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters. The supreme leader largely supported the council in the bitter dispute in 2004.

The Associated Press

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