Key takeaway: Expediency Discernment Council Chairman Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani continued to spar with senior regime officials over the Guardian Council’s mass disqualification of electoral candidates.

Ayatollah Rafsanjani reiterated his earlier comments criticizing the Guardian Council’s disproportionate disqualification of Reformist candidates in the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections. Rafsanjani blamed mass disqualifications as one of the factors that have weakened the Islamic Republic’s “republican” quality over “the past few years.”

Several Friday prayer leaders used their last sermons before the February 26 parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections to warn of foreign interference at the polls. Interim Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Hojjat ol Eslam Kazem Sedighi stated that Iran’s enemies have switched tactics from encouraging a boycott of the elections to encouraging Iranians to “vote for those who [the enemies] want.” Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader Mohammad Bagher Farzaneh called for Iranians to “elect people who have ‘death to America’ written on their foreheads when the cameras of the world turn to them.”

Armed Forces General Staff Deputy IRGC Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri addressed rumorsthat Russia was set to make the first of two deliveries of S-300 missile defense systems to Iran this week. He stated that the “work” of transferring the systems to Iran is “ongoing.” 

Matthew McInnis discusses Iranian perspectives on the possible deployment of Saudi Arabian and Emirati special operations forces to Syria in his latest blog post, “Iran isn’t sweating Saudi intervention in Syria.”
 

Domestic Politics

  • Rafsanjani criticizes mass disqualifications, encourages Reformist and moderate candidates. Ayatollah Ali Akbar Rafsanjani condemned disqualifications by the Guardian Council, Iran’s vetting body that has disproportionately disqualified Reformist candidates in the ongoing elections, during a meeting with Reformists on February 19. The Expediency Discernment Council Chairman, who is also a candidate in the Assembly of Experts elections, identified two primary elements of the Iranian political system as “Islamic” and “republican”; he then blamed the Guardian Council’s “disqualifications” as one of the elements that has weakened the republican element “over the past several years.” Rafsanjani stated, “If the law had been executed well, the republican character would have been completely preserved.”
    • Rafsanjani also encouraged “Reformists and candidates close to the administration” who have been disqualified to strive to influence the election’s outcome by endorsing other candidates. He stated, “A well-known person who is disqualified must introduce someone who is not well-known to society in order to make that person victorious in the elections. Likewise, I supported Mr. [Hassan] Rouhani after I was disqualified in the [2013] presidential elections.”
    • Rafsanjani also met with members from the Coalition of Reformists and Government Supporters, a newly-formed moderate-Reformist bloc, to hear their “opinions and viewpoints” on the elections. (IRNA) (ILNA)
       
  • Tehran Friday Prayer Leader: The enemy is attacking the regime by targeting the Guardian Council. Hojjat ol Eslam Kazem Sedighi claimed during his Friday prayer sermon that Iran’s enemies “want to cut the branches” of the political system, especially the Guardian Council, in order to weaken the office of the Supreme Leader. The Tehran Friday Prayer Leader accused those who question the Guardian Council’s vetting process of trying to “discredit” the next Parliament, stating, “If the Guardian Council is illegal, then the confirmed candidates are illegal as well… Those who attack the Guardian Council alongside foreigners - where do they get their credibility?” Sedighi warned that Iran’s enemies, particularly the U.S. and Britain, have switched tactics from encouraging a boycott of the elections to encouraging Iranians to “vote for those who [the enemies] want.”
    • Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader: Vote for strong anti-American candidates. Hojjat ol Eslam Mohammad Bagher Farzaneh called for Iranians to “elect people who have ‘death to America’ written on their foreheads when the cameras of the world turn to them.” The Interim Mashhad Friday Prayer Leader also emphasized the role of the Parliament in the political system, stating, “The Parliament can protect national security and be an effective bulwark against the enemy.” (Fars News Agency) (Tasnim News Agency) (E) (ISNA)
       
  • Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami defends hardliners against foreign “meddling.” Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami claimed that the “arrogance,” a term generally used to refer to the West, considers it “important to establish an infiltrator in our decision-making bodies... They are saying for whom we should vote and for whom we should not.” The Assembly of Experts member also defended prominent hardliners, stating, “They tell you not to vote for Ahmad Jannati, Mohammad Yazdi, and Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi in Tehran; Ahmad Khatami in Kerman; and Ahmad Alam ol hoda in Khorasan… Jannati’s crime is loyalty to the Supreme Leader, Yazdi’s crime is perseverance, and Mesbah’s crime is endless purity.” (Mashregh News)
     
  • Moderate politician expresses confidence in election outcome. Esmail Shojaei, head of the Moderation and Development Party’s central election staff, stated that “the next Parliament will be moderate” because “society has grown tired of extremism in the country’s two factions,” referring to Reformists and Principlists. The Moderation and Development Party’s membership includes President Hassan Rouhani. (IRNA)
     

Military and Security

  • Jazayeri: S-300 transfer process is “ongoing.” IRGC Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri addressed rumors that Russia was set to make the first of two deliveries of S-300 missile defense systems to Iran on February 18. The Armed Forces General Staff Deputy stated, “The S-300 system has multiple parts. As appropriate, the work of its transfer [to Iran] is ongoing… Hopefully, contracts concluded between Iran and Russia will become operational in the not-too-distant future.” (Defa Press)