IRAN: Iran's hardliners, ignoring protests from reformist MPs, announced yesterday that they had reinstated only one third of the candidates they had barred from standing in next month's parliamentary elections, writes Caitriona Palmer in Tehran
Following an anxious day of waiting, the Guardian Council released its decision in a statement read out on state television, saying that "more than 1,160 aspiring candidates were reinstated."
The Guardian Council, an unelected body of conservative clerics and lawyers, had been reviewing appeals of an earlier ruling to bar around 3,600 out of 8,200 candidates from the February 20th election.
Many of these candidates complain that they are being targeted for their moderate views and reformist agenda.
The council's decision is set to plunge Iran 's parliament deeper into crisis as many top officials have threatened to resign if all candidates were not reinstated by yesterday's deadline.
Since January 11th about 80 reformist MPs have been holding a sit-in in the parliament building in protest at the disqualifications.
Speaking late last night, reformist MP Reza Yousefian confirmed that the Guardian Council's decision would now almost certainly lead to mass resignations within the reformist camp.
"We have an important session for MPs in the morning," he said. "I think the main decisions will be taken there and will be announced tomorrow afternoon".
In the past week, the reformists' protest has begun to gain a degree of momentum with student leaders and academics pledging their support.
Yesterday, Iran 's new Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms Shirin Ebadi told the Associated Press that if the candidates were not reinstated, then Iran would be denied the right to free and fair elections.
The interior ministry called for the elections to be postponed until it was clear the vote would be free and fair.
But any delay to the elections must be first approved by the Guardian Council which last night ruled this out.
"The issue of postponement was discussed and was not agreed," said Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the conservative watchdog in a statement on the Guardian Council website.
"It is a war of attrition between both sides," said Iranian analyst Hossein Rassam.
"The Guardian Council is on the retreat."