It’s Rouhani’s Turn

It’s Rouhani’s turn

It’s Rouhani’s turn, the news of disqualification of Hassan Rouhani for the elections of the Assembly of Experts is surprising, although it was expected. These two events are not contradictory in this paragraph. Although he is not the first Iranian president to be disqualified for elections after his presidency, this event is more surprising than previous paragraphs from 10 perspectives. This explanation can be given here. Any possible event can happen, whether it is the cancellation of this news or even after its announcement, it should not be considered final. Perhaps with intervention and a decree, the opportunity for his return to the elections of the Assembly of Experts may be provided. However, the assumption of this writing is not being allowed.

1. Although the qualifications of the two former presidents of Iran were not approved for elections after their presidency, Rouhani has been nominated for the Assembly of Experts, not the presidency. The Assembly of Experts does not have more sessions than the presidency, which requires continuous and 24-hour presence, in order to justify Rafsanjani’s rejections in 1992 and say that it is due to age conditions, while his age is less than Rafsanjani’s age in 1992.

Some supporters of reforms and moderation were concerned that Rouhani would not be approved, as the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections do not hold the same appeal for reformists and moderates as before. People may only vote for him based on his name and then say that the elections were competitive and Rouhani did not win, benefiting both from his candidacy and his failure to win, which undermines this scenario.

Some conservative media outlets had reported the pressure from reformists on Rouhani to withdraw, as his presence in the decision-making process about the elections would cause them to be divided. Regardless of whether this news is true or fabricated, disqualifying him ensures the satisfaction of reformists and moderates, countering the claim that Rouhani’s nomination is against their views.

Someone who has been a member of the Assembly of Experts for 24 years and has not lost his scholarly and juristic qualifications after three terms is not the presidency that can be rejected due to age. One possibility is that his disagreement with the leadership over the JCPOA and other issues, as well as the public announcement of certain viewpoints in official tribunes, may have been the reason for this.

These points may have seemed justifiable for the re-election of the president, but usually the experts have been dismissed from these discussions, just as Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of this parliament, became one. Another possibility is that the presence of Rouhani angered the new fundamentalists and they want to motivate them to be more determined and committed instead of rewarding others.

5 extremist fundamentalists and non-principled clerics consider Rouhani a stranger among themselves and sometimes even have more resentment against him compared to Khatami. When in the Islamic Revolution course book at a famous university, it is mentioned that the Shah had some services and all his actions were not betrayal, it is likened to Rouhani, who also had some services despite his mistakes. Read a detailed narration of this summary.

6 It is even more surprising because Rouhani’s presence in the Guardian Council and his invitation to the people to participate in the elections, instead of being angry with the ballot box, may cause a difference of opinion with the Reformist Front, who had a different view on the existence or non-existence of this issue. And now they are on the same side.

7 They considered disqualifying Ayatollah Khomeini’s grandson as a refusal to take the jurisprudence exam, but they cannot test a representative with three 8-year terms of experience because Rouhani is already a member of the Guardian Council. This is even more astonishing.

If the result of the election is more important than high participation, this disqualification is not surprising, but from the perspective of increasing participation, it is remarkable. Furthermore, Ebrahim Raisi has also not become a candidate for the Assembly of Experts this time, in order to avoid competing with Rouhani and repeating the events of 1996 in the Experts Assembly, from the province of Tehran.

If Rouhani has entered this game with the anticipation of this event, it is to his advantage. And if he returns without adjusting his positions, have Rouhani’s opponents taken any action in his favor, or have they not thought about this issue and are pursuing their own path, removing obstacles along the way?

Considering that 2024 is a year of multiple elections in countries around the world, with the most important one being the US presidential election, it was notable that the Iranian elections were not the focus of the think tanks that had referred to various elections in November 2024. This was thought-provoking because it seemed that the think tank does not create any change in the political structure, while elections in other places undergo significant changes. This oversight has caused more turmoil among conservatives.

Now, with the disqualification of a former president for membership in the parliament, which plays a role in the Islamic Republic’s Board of Trustees, the attention of the world is drawn, but from a negative perspective.