In a letter to the Guardian Council on Monday, May 23, the Grand Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei instructed the councilors to reconsider the vetting of presidential candidates.
Ayatollah Khamenei, in his letter which was addressed to the council's secretary Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, expressed his appreciation for the sincere efforts made by the Guardian Council to vet the qualifications of presidential candidates based on legal criteria.
In his letter, the Leader further stated, "Considering that it is desirable that presidential candidates with different political tastes and leanings should have an opportunity to stand in the upcoming elections, it seems advisable for the Guardian Council to reconsider the qualifications of the presidential candidates Mostafa Moeen and Mohsen Mehralizadeh."
The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Majlis), Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, in an earlier letter to the Leader of the Islamic Republic, had appealed to the Leader to instruct the Guardian Council to reconsider the vetting of presidential candidates.
In part of his letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, Haddad-Adel noted, "As you know, the esteemed Guardian Council has announced the names of six presidential candidates whose qualifications have been approved by the council. Although the Guardian Council has always tried to perform its important duties based on legal and religious criteria, it has sometimes reviewed its decisions based on your guidelines, which are inspired by prudence and expediency."
The Majlis speaker, in his letter to the Leader, further said, "What is now requested is that in this recent case also, if you deem the reconsideration of the matter expedient and contributing to increased public participation in the upcoming presidential elections, something which you have always emphasized, please instruct the revered Guardian Council to expand the circle of presidential candidates who are considered eligible to run in the forthcoming elections."