DUBAI,
Jan 24 (Reuters) - Iran's hardline watchdog body has banned former
pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani from standing again in an election
in March for the Assembly of Experts, which appoints and can dismiss the
supreme leader, state media said on Wednesday.
The
88-member assembly, founded in 1982, supervises the most powerful
authority but has rarely intervened directly in policy-making.
Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is 84, so the new assembly is expected to
play a significant role in choosing his successor since its members are
only elected every eight years.
In
a statement, Rouhani criticised the Guardian Council's ruling as
"politically biased ... (one) that will undermine the nation's
confidence in the system".
Close
to moderates, Rouhani was elected president in a landslide in 2013 and
2017 on a promise to reduce Iran's diplomatic isolation.
But
the mid-ranking cleric angered political hardliners who opposed any
rapprochement with the U.S. "Great Satan" after reaching a 2015 nuclear
pact with six major powers.
The
deal unravelled in 2018 when then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched
the agreement and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.
Efforts to revive the pact have failed.
"There
was no reason given for the Guardian Council's decision," a source
close to Rouhani told Reuters, adding that "no decision has been made
yet for an appeal" as Rouhani has three days to object the ruling.
"Rouhani
has been a member of the assembly since 1999 for three terms. ... It
will be interesting to see what the reason for his disqualification
was."
The
12-member Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation,
disqualified 80% of candidates running for the assembly in its last
election in 2016.
Moderate
politicians have accused the Guardian Council of disqualifying rivals,
and said that excluding candidates from the race undermines the vote's
legitimacy.
A
low turnout for the upcoming elections is expected, with Rouhani saying
that the majority of people do not want to vote and that this will
favour the ruling minority which relies on low turnout.
"Undoubtedly,
the ruling minority overtly seeks to reduce public participation in
elections ... intending to dictate the people's fate through their
decisions," he said in the statement published on Rouhani's website.
With
Rouhani's disqualification, the Guardian Council had made it clear that
hardliners intended to keep moderates away from the assembly, a
pro-reform insider said.
The
Guardian Council has also disqualified hundreds of hopefuls running for
the parliamentary election also to be held on March 1.
State
media reported that only 30 mid-ranking moderate candidates have been
qualified to stand for the 290-seat parliament. Around 12,000 hopefuls
will run for parliament.
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