Brussels, 12/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - "I would find it hard to explain in Europe how it is that deputies representing the people cannot stand" for the Iranian legislative elections in February, CFSP High Representative Javier Solana said on Monday in Teheran, where he is on a two-day visit with an EU Council mandate to "discuss the modalities of taking forward the EU's dialogue with Iran in all areas". According to the AFP, Mr Solana recognised that these elections are a domestic Iranian affair, but, at the same time, they must be part of a fair process. The committees for election monitoring, which come under the Council of Guardians of the Constitution, have refused more than 3500 candidatures, including 85 members of the present parliament.
In Teheran, Mr Solana, who had met Mohamed Ek Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Sunday, held talks with President Khatami, Foreign Minister Kharrazi and the Head of the Supreme Security Council, Rohani, before going to Bam on Tuesday to confirm the EU's support for the victims of the recent deadly earthquake there. (We recall that, on 14 January he will be in Kabul, in Afghanistan, and, on 15 January in Tblissi, Georgia).
European CDU member Michal Gahler, EP Rapporteur on Iran, described the fact that such a large number of candidates had been excluded from the forthcoming elections as a "serious setback for the development of democracy in Iran, unless one goes back on this decision". Also, he notes that the "number of deputies and candidates known to be banished shows the extent to which the conservative structures fear submitting to true popular ballot".