Iran: Controversial candidates barred from running for president

- The Interior Ministry has announced the names of eight people approved by the Guardian Council to run the in the presidential election, and the names of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashai are not included in the list. - 5/22/13

Disqualification Of Rafsanjani Paves Way For Khamenei To Install Loyalist

- The decision by Iran's powerful Guardians Council to bar former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from running in next month's presidential election paves the way for the country's establishment to bring a loyalist to power. It also deals another blow to the credibility of the June 14 poll, analysts say. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL - 5/22/13

Iranian President Criticizes Aide's Election Ban

- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is speaking out in defense of a close aide whom authorities have barred from running in next month's presidential election. Ahmadinejad described Mashaei on Wednesday as righteous, capable and beneficial for the country, and said the aide is a victim of injustice. - 5/22/13

Iran's Supreme Leader shows compassion for disqualified candidates!

- The official website of the Supreme Leader has published his February 2 2011 remarks on disqualified presidential candidates. According to Ayatollah Khamenei, disqualified candidates may not be competent to run for president, but they may have other competencies and so their lives are not over! - 5/22/13

Inspired by reformist candidate, Iranian political prisoner end of hunger strike

- Mehdi Khazali, a prominent Iranian political prisoner, has ended his hunger strike after 140 days following the announcement of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani's decision to run for president. - 5/22/13

'Great Shock' Over Rafsanjani's Disqualification

- The front page of Iran's "Ebtekar" daily is a good indication of how many Iranians felt when they heard the news that former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -- one of the pillars of the Islamic establishment -- had been banned from running in next month's vote. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/22/13

Iran cracks down on activists in runup to election

- Human rights campaigners in Iran, speaking on condition of anonymity, say state repression has intensified in the runup to the polls on 14 June amid authorities' concern of a repeat of the anti-government protests that followed the 2009 election, which was described as a sedition led by the country's foreign enemies. -Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Guardian - 5/22/13

Kerry Presses US-Russian Plan for Syrian Peace Talks

- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets Wednesday in the Jordanian capital with senior diplomats from 11 nations, as part of a U.S.-Russian push to end Syria's civil war. - 5/22/13

Iran Bars Election Candidacies of Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad Aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei

- Iran says a conservative body has barred two prominent figures from competing in next month's presidential election -- moderate former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and a leading conservative allied to current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. - 5/21/13

Iran's Guardian Council qualifies 8 candidates, disqualifies Mashaei, Rafsanjani: Report

- The Guardian Council has qualified 8 candidates for presidential elections, Mashaei and Hashemi disqualified. Informed sources communicated the list of qualified candidates to Mehr News. - 5/21/13

Iran: Cleric warns Supreme Leader against barring candidate

- In a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadegh Haeri Shirazi, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, says the Supreme Leader's motto of "Political legend and maximum participation in the elections" will not be realized if the "top figures from each side" are not allowed to compete. - 5/21/13

Iran's security forces in place for announcement of candidates

- An Iranian opposition website reports that Tehran "has put on a military face" as the Guardian Council is set to announce today the presidential candidates that have been approved to run in the election. - 5/21/13

Will Iran's Former President Rafsanjani Be Allowed To Run?

- Recent comments by members Iran's Guardians Council, the hard-line oversight body that vets all election candidates, have raised doubt that former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will be allowed to run in the June 14 presidential elections. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/21/13

Diplomat Says Tehran Approves Deal To Probe 1994 Argentinian Bombing

- An Iranian diplomat says his government has approved a memorandum of understanding with Argentina on forming a "truth commission" to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires. The attack killed 85 people. - 5/21/13

Satellite Images Show Five New Stealth F-22s On US Base Near Iran

- Even if we have often reported the presence of the F-22 Raptors at Al Dhafra, satellite imagery showing five radar evading planes parked at the main airbase in the UAE has been made publicly available for the first time recently. -Business Insider - 5/21/13

Iranian Political Prisoners Recalled In advance Of Election

- Iranian judiciary is recalling political prisoners on furlough back to person in the lead up to the presidential elections on June 14. Massoud Bastani and Hossein Ronaghi were called back to Evin Prison on Saturday according to Kaleme opposition website. - 5/20/13

Photos: Iran opens defense system with smart intercepting capability in low altitudes

- Iran inaugurated a newly-developed aerial defense system capable of smart intercepting, tracking and hitting the intended targets in low altitudes in an automatic way. The system titled 'Herz IX' (Protector) has high movements is mobile. - 5/20/13

Two executed in Iran after being convicted of spying for Israel, U.S.

- Iranian judiciary announced the execution of two individuals convicted of espionage today Sunday May 19 in Tehran for "links to foreign intelligence services." Tehran Prosecutors office identified the two individuals as "Mohammad Heydari" and "Kourosh Ahmadi." - 5/20/13

Assessment of presidential candidates by Iranian opposition leaders claimed false

- The families of Iranian opposition leaders under house arrest announced today that statements attributed to their parents in the media is false and that MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have not made any assessments of the coming election. - 5/20/13

Iran's Election Gatekeepers Balk At Aged Candidates

- Iran's Guardian Council has expressed concern about the "physical capabilities" of election candidates and the ability of senior candidates to handle the workload of presidential duties. - 5/20/13

Lawmaker Fires Back In 'Car Wars' Ahead Of Iranian Presidential Vote

- Conservative lawmaker Ali Motahari has criticized recent comments by hard-line cleric Ahmad Jannati suggesting what kind of car Iran's next president should -- or shouldn't -- drive. Motahari described the remarks by Jannati, who chairs the powerful Guardians Council that's charged with vetting candidate applications -- as illogical, adding that the intent was "demagoguery." -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/20/13

Azerbaijani Scholar, Her Driver Released From Iran Custody

- BAKU -- Azerbaijani scholar Khalida Khalid* and her driver have been released following nearly three weeks in Iranian custody after their detention at the home of an ethnic Azeri activist. - 5/20/13

Government newspaper accuses head of Iran's security forces of ordering murder of those in Ahmadinejad camp

- In an editorial published by the government newspaper Iran News and republished by government news agency IRNA, the head of Iran's security forces, Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam, has been accused of ordering murder of those in Ahmadinejad camp whom Ahmadi Moghaddam accuses of devianting from true Islam. - 5/18/13

Iranian Wrestlers Abruptly Leave US Early

- The U.S. State Department has denied Iranian media reports that the United States deported the Iranian wrestling team ahead of a Sunday meet in Los Angeles. A State Department official tells VOA's Persian News Network that U.S. authorities had nothing to do with their departure. - 5/18/13

Congress Debates War, Sanctions, Diplomacy and MEK with Top Obama Officials

- Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, the House and Senate held hearings on Iran policy with top administration officials Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of Political Affairs at the U.S. State Department, and David S. Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Treasury Department. - 5/18/13

Iran's Chief Vetter Says Mercedes A No-No For Iran's Next President

- The luxury automobile of Iranian ex-President and current presidential hopeful Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is once again the focus of hard-line attention in connection with next month's vote. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/18/13

Iranian Candidate Appears To Offer Starkly Contrasting Accounts Of Crackdown

- Is Iran's presidential hopeful Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf a hard-liner or a moderate? It depends on his audience, apparently. Recordings of two starkly different accounts given by Qalibaf of his role in the crackdown against protests have emerged online. - 5/18/13

U.S. Quiet On Iran Women President Bar

- The United States has declined to take a firm stand after a member of Iran's electoral overseer said women will be barred from standing in Iran's June presidential election. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington would not comment on specific candidates. She also noted that Iranian authorities must approve all candidates. - 5/18/13

New Congressional Sanctions Push Aimed at Killing Iran Diplomacy

- The House is poised to move ahead with a new round of Iran sanctions, and a slew of new sanctions proposals are set to be introduced in the Senate, even as a host of current and former senior U.S. officials - including Secretary of State John Kerry - have warned the body to hold off on new sanctions at the risk of imperiling a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear standoff. -Jamal Abdi, Lobe Log - 5/18/13

Russia promotes Iranian role in solving Syrian conflict

- Russia has once again emphasized the need to include Iran in the International Conference aimed at ending the civil war in Syria. Russia and the U.S. agreed this month to hold an international conference, which would include groups representing the Beshar Assad government and the opposition. - 5/18/13

Iran: Presidential Candidate Brags About His Direct Role in Violence and Repression

- The international community should immediately institute a travel ban and asset freeze against Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the current mayor of Tehran and a contender in the upcoming presidential election, due to his extensive role in gross human rights violations, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. - 5/17/13

What Has The Work of Heavens Come Down To?

- Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidential nominee, has said, "I have received my approval to run for the post from the Heavens. Imam Al-ASR will force the Guardians Council to approve my qualifications." Following that someone wrote me that the heavens and the imam are the new names for fraud and the purchase of votes! -Nooshabeh Amiri - 5/17/13

Iran says election won't hinder nuclear talks

- Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Thursday May 16 that talks in Istanbul with Catherine Ashton, the P5+1 representative, were beneficial, adding that Iran is prepared to continue nuclear talks either before or after its presidential election. - 5/17/13

Iran's Election Officials Extend Period For Candidate Review

- Iran's Guardian Council has given itself five extra days to determine the eligibility of presidential hopefuls, saying it will announce the eligible candidates on May 21. ISNA reports that the five-day extension has been reported to the Interior Ministry as required by regulations. - 5/17/13

Photos: Iran joins US charity wrestling event in New York

- Iranian wrestlers participated in a New York charity event dubbed "The Rumble on Rails" at Grand Central Station, facing off against their U.S. and Russian adversaries on May 15, with Iran defeating the U.S. 6 to 1. - 5/16/13

Iranian MPs call on council to disqualify candidates

- One hundred Iranian MPs have written to the Guardian Council to call for the disqualification of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashai from the presidential race. The Fars news agency says the MPs have described the two presidential candidates as being in opposition to the Supreme Leader's principles. - 5/16/13

EU's Ashton Has 'Useful' Discussion With Iran's Jalili

- EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton says she had a "useful" discussion with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili but announced no plans for a new round of negotiations. Catherine Ashton, representing six world powers, said after the meeting May 15 in Istanbul that "we talked about the proposals we had put forward and we will now reflect on how to go on to the next stage of the process." - 5/16/13

Why sanctions on Iran are not working

- The current sanctions policy is based on a shaky assumption - the belief that economic pain and dissatisfaction among political elites automatically will result in pressure on the Iranian regime to change its nuclear course. This assumption does not hold. The economic pain imposed on Iran is intense - but directionless. -Trita Parsi & Reza Marashi, Al Jazeera - 5/16/13

U.S. Calls For Free, Fair Iranian Election

- Sherman said in the run-up to the June 14 presidential poll that the U.S. was doing whatever it could to encourage voices in Iran to press for a free election. She also said that the U.S. would not take sides in next month's vote. "The decision who leads Iran is for the Iranian people." Sherman said. - 5/16/13

U.S. Blacklists Two U.A.E. Firms For Dealing With Iran

- The United States has barred two financial firms based in the United Arab Emirates for dealing with an Iranian bank blacklisted by Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department said on May 15 that Al Hilal Exchange and Al Fida International General Trading had provided financial services to Bank Mellat. -RFE - 5/16/13

Photos: Teams From U.S., Iran, Russia Back Olympic Wrestling

- Wrestlers from the United States, Iran, and Russia have appeared jointly at the United Nations to promote the value of wrestling. The teams, which are in New York for a wrestling exhibition on May 15 at New York's Grand Central Station railway terminal, hope to apply pressure on the International Olympic Committee to keep their sport in the Olympics. - 5/15/13

Responses to Rafsanjani's Candidacy: The Alignment of Political Groups Disrupted!

- Some have called his decision to enter the race to be his turn into the last chapter of his life and have tied Iran's fate to this chapter. Others view him to be among the opposition that ruling circles call seditionists and call for his disqualification. Military leaders are issuing warnings, Majlis representatives are signing resolutions and some media issue secret bulletins against him. -Fereshteh Ghazi, Rooz - 5/15/13

Iran's Elections Body Can Now Ask Would-Be Presidents For Plans

- Iran's Guardian Council, the powerful body that determines the eligibility of political candidates, announced that it has approved a policy to require concrete administrative plans from presidential candidates when it is deemed necessary. - 5/15/13

Tell Me What Car You Drive And I'll Tell You What Kind Of Politician You Are

- In recent days, photos of the cars Rafsanjani and Jalili used on May 11 to come to the Interior Ministry to register for next month's vote have been posted side by side on a number of hard-line, pro-establishment websites. - Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/15/13

Iran's Intelligence Ministry summons independent candidate after meeting

- Independent presidential candidate Ghassem Sholeh Saadi was summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence after he met with a number of reporters and reformist youth. No details have been released about the reason for his summons. - 5/15/13

Parallel Talks Focus on Iranian Nuclear Program

- Iran's nuclear program is the focus of two separate meetings Wednesday, but no major breakthroughs are expected ahead of the country's June presidential election. -VOA - 5/15/13

UN Set for Syria Vote

- The United Nations General Assembly is expected to adopt a resolution Wednesday condemning the continued violence in Syria and calling on the country's government to give access to U.N. investigators. -VOA - 5/15/13

Surprise Candidacy Challenges Plans Of Iranian Establishment

- The surprise decision by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to enter Iran's presidential race poses a challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's plans to bring a loyalist to power, analysts say. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/14/13

Iran Elections A Farce: Zahra, A Fictional Character, Enters Race

- Ahead of Iran's presidential elections scheduled for June 14, an author and a human rights non-governmental organization are registering their protest by nominating for president a fictional mourning mother whose son was killed by authorities in 2009. - 5/14/13

Rafsanjani Candidacy Draws Fire From Iran's Hard-Liners

- Influential former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has drawn sharp criticism from Iran's ruling establishment after he filed a last-minute application for candidacy in the country's June 14 presidential election. After months of speculation, Rafsanjani signed up at the end of a five-day registration period on May 11, stunning rivals who had written off the 78-year-old moderate. -Frud Bezhan, RFE - 5/14/13

Iranian Student Film needs the support of the Iranian Community

- 1979 "is an NYU undergraduate thesis film that will begin principal photography in late June 2013. The film centers on three Iranian immigrants in small town America during the time of the Iranian Hostage Crisis. We follow Reza and witness the comedic culture clash that follows him and his friends, Masoud and Ata, as they try their hardest to assimilate. - 5/14/13

Four top UN human rights experts call for immediate release of seven imprisoned Iranian Baha'i leaders

- In a press release issued on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the arrest of the seven, the four experts emphasized that the seven are held solely because of their religious beliefs, that their continued imprisonment is unjust and wrongful, and that Iran's treatment of religious minorities violates international law. - 5/14/13

Iran: 203 city council elections candidates disqualified

- Two hundred and three hopefuls have not been approved as candidates for the fourth city council elections, which will be held simultaneously with the 11th presidential election on June 14. - 5/14/13

Iranian shipping group leader says industry stifled by sanctions

- The head of the IRISL Group (Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines) says revenues from the country's shipping industry have shrunk by more than half in recent years. "Currently European countries prohibit Iranian ships from docking in their ports," Dajmer said. - 5/14/13

Iranian wrestlers head to U.S.

- The Iranian free-style wrestling team left Tehran for the United States on Sunday morning to participate in an exhibition match in New York's Times Square. The United States, Russia and Iran will come together in solidarity to compete in a unique wrestling competition in Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal in New York City on May 15. - 5/13/13

Conservative MP to speak for moderate candidate

- Now that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsajani, the chairman of the Expediency Council, has entered the race for president, conservative MP Ali Motahari has announced he will serve as spokesman for that campaign. - 5/13/13

Recent Iranian government projects: election advertising or environmental threats?

- The Iranian government has proposed new projects such as building infrastructure in Shahrood's Abr Forest and opening up oil development in Kavir National Park by issuing exploration permits, and the government's national development plan promises to donate 2,000 square metres of public land to Iranian families. -Bijan Rohani - 5/13/13

Jon Stewart Hosts Iran Censorship Event

- Highlighting the heightened censorship and the situation of journalists in Iran, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran hosted a screening of Iranian-Canadian director Maziar Bahari's film Forced Confessions in a joint event with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the PEN American Center on May 8 in New York. - 5/13/13

Iran to build 6 oil refineries in Africa

- Memorandums of understanding have been signed with six African countries and preliminary measures have been taken for finding appropriate places to establish the refineries, the Mehr News Agency quoted Hassan Khosrojerdi as saying. - 5/13/13

Iran's Guardian Council slams Ahmadinejad for candidate endorsement

- Iran's Guardian Council has spoken out against the fact that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accompanied Esfandiar Rahim Mashai as he registered to run in the presidential race. - 5/12/13

Iran: Reformists rejected as city council candidates

- Iranian media report that a large number of reformist candidates have been pronounced ineligible to run in the city council elections. Mohsen Hashemi, Masoumeh Ebtekar and Parvin Ahmadinejad are among the many well known faces in Iranian politics who were disqualified, according to ILNA. - 5/12/13

Iran Condemns Use Of Chemical Weapons

- Iran's foreign minister has condemned the use of chemical weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. He noted that Iran -- which is a strong ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- was itself a victim of chemical attacks during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. - 5/12/13

Former President, Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Ahmadinejad's top aid, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, to run in Iran's June 14 presidential election

- Just minutes before the deadline on March 11 to register as a presidential candidate, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani made it official that he wants to be the next Iranian president. Meanwhile, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's top aide, also entered the race during the final minutes of the registration period. - 5/11/13

Last Day For Iran President Applications

- May 11 is the last day for hopefuls to apply to become candidates in Iran's presidential election. More than 360 people are reported to have applied so far this week. They include reformist former Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and former parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, an ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. - 5/11/13

Prisoner denounces performance of Iran'a Supreme Leader

- Iranian political prisoner Mohammadreza Motamednia has challenged Iranian Supreme Leader's competence in managing the country's affairs. In a letter addressed to Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Jaras website, Motamednia writes: "So long as the country is not ruled by the constitution, we will not participate in any election." - 5/11/13

Book about sidelined Iranian politician pulled from Tehran exhibition

- Serahatnameh, a book of interviews with Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Council, has been pulled from Tehran's 26th book exhibition. ISNA reports that Ali Esmaili, the head of the exhibition, explained the action was needed to "corroborate certain information with relevant officials." - 5/11/13

Iran Unveils Most Advanced Home-Made Drone called Hemaseh

- Iran displayed its most advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) designed and manufactured by the country's engineers.The stealth drone, named Hemaseh (Epic), was unveiled on Thursday evening in a special ceremony in the presence of Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi. - 5/10/13

"Reformist" candidate runs for president of Iran

- Mohammadreza Aref, the former vice president and a senior reformist figure, registered today, May 10, to run in the 11th presidential election. Aref, who threw his hat in the ring four days after the registration began, served as vice president under Mohammad Khatami and is currently a member of the Expediency Council. - 5/10/13

'Iran's Lech Walesa' Says He Left Country After Death Threats

- Prominent Iranian union leader Mansur Osanlu, who recently fled that country, has told RFE/RL that death threats from inside government security circles drove him out of Iran. He warned that the atmosphere in the Islamic republic is becoming more repressive "day by day." -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/10/13

Consequences of western intransigence in nuclear diplomacy with Iran

- To maintain the illusion of some prospect for progress in nuclear diplomacy with Tehran, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Istanbul next week - on May 15. -Hillary Mann Leverett and Flynt Leverett, Al Jazeera - 5/10/13

Iran: Khatami says situation not ripe for his candidacy; expresses hope Rafsanjani would run for president

- "An election in which everything goes normal is a way to come to power and its criterion is the vote of the people. But we are in a situation where the election mechanism is flawed in this respect. There are people standing against us who prefer another trend, and if someone criticizes that trend and mull over a better path for the society and the country, they do not allow him to have a presence" - 5/9/13

Iran allocates $157m to import medicine, medial equipment

- Iran has allocated $157 million to import medicine and medical equipment since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21), IRNA reported, citing a statement by the Central Bank. Some $1.6 billion has also been allocated to import staple foods, the report added. - 5/9/13

Iranian Parliament To Hold Extraordinary Session To Discuss Inflation: The High Monetary Council Paralyzed

- The new wave of price increases has been not just watched by the politicians but has in fact alarmed Majlis deputies who have called for a discussion of its economic-political-security implications of the rapidly changing economic terrain. -Firoozeh Matin, Rooz - 5/9/13

Who Will Be Iran's Supreme Presidential Candidate?

- Any candidate who wants to Iran's next president will need the blessing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If Iran's supreme leader were to write a job description for the country's next president, loyalty and obedience to the Islamic establishment would be high on the list of requirements. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 5/9/13

Inhumanity and Illegality of Sanctions Justify Iran's Response

- Sanctions against Iran have negatively impacted the lives of the Iranian people, and they continue to do so despite lacking a legal foundation. If we recognize the inhumanity and illegality of sanctions, we can better understand the Iranian government's response to them. -Mahmoud Reza Golshanpazhooh - 5/9/13