Iran News Roundup - April 14, 2017

• Ruhollah Amiri and Khodadad Najafi were killed in Syria, and will be buried in Alborz Province on April 13. (Mehr News Agency) (ABNA)
• Hamid Heidari was killed in an unidentified area in Syria, and will be buried in Esfahan on April 13. (ABNA)
• Hadi Hosseini and Mohammad Tajik were killed in Hama, Syria. (Rasa News Agency)

Unidentified militants killed Ruhollah Aali near Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, on April 11. Aali commanded the 110th Salman Farsi Brigade’s battalion based in Kurin. (Tasnim News Agency) (E) (ISNA)

• Unidentified militants killed IRGC 2nd Lt. Ruhollah Kamaldar and Vahid Aslani in southeastern Iran on April 12. The two were members of the IRGC Quds Base of Sistan and Baluchistan province. (Tasnim News Agency) (E)

Judiciary Spokesman Mohseni Ejei discussed the arrests of 12 media activists in March. Ejei rejected Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) Head Hojjat ol Eslam Mahmoud Alavi’s claim that the activists “haven’t committed any crime.” Ejei said “some of these individuals were arrested because of security concerns and some for violating the public morals by publishing obscenities.” Ejei added that MOIS is not responsible for determining who is and is not a criminal. (Young Journalists Club) (Radio Farda)

Guardian Council Secretary Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati stated that most of the people who registered for the presidential elections on the first day of the elections are not qualified. Jannati warned that their registration only adds to the workload of electoral officials and implored the press to properly inform the population about the requirements to run for office and the overall electoral process. (Tasnim News Agency)

Astan Quds Razavi Foundation and presidential hopeful Hojjat ol Eslam Ebrahim Raisi stated that Iranian society “requires increased spirituality and religious immunization” in order to “resolve many of [its] problems.” (Tasnim News Agency)

Senior officials reacted to Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s registration to run in the May 19 presidential elections. Ahmadinejad must be approved by the Guardian Council in order to stand formally in the election. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directed Ahmadinejad not to run last year. Expediency Discernment Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei referred to Khamenei’s order and stated, “If someone consults a wise person but then does not follow their advice, that itself is a problem.” Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs Hossein Ali Amiri said: “The recommendations of the Supreme Leader is official, binding, and will be binding for all...anyone who wants to take responsibility for the system, should have accepted all the principles of the constitution.” An editorial in the newspaper Jomhuri Eslami claimed that Ahmadinejad “does not believe in velayat-e faqih [guardianship of the jurist].” Ebrahim Mashaei, a longtime ally of Ahmadinejad and his protege Hamid Baghaei, insisted that Ahmadinejad and Baghaei’s dual presidential runs do not mean they are one another’s rivals in the elections. (ISNA) (Shooshan) (ISNA) (ISNA)

Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces Spokesman Marzieh Dastjerdi stated that the Popular Front will permit all five finalists to register to run in the presidential candidates. She indicated that the Popular Front will decide on a single candidate at a later date. (Tasnim News Agency) (Tasnim News Agency)

A total of 638 individuals had registered as presidential candidates by the end of April 13, the third day of the registration period. Registration closes on April 15. Oil Minister under former President Ali Khamenei and former parliamentarian Mohammad Gharazi and Assembly of Experts member Grand Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei Golpaygani were among the candidates who registered on the third day. A Guardian Council official, meanwhile, stated that “the majority of candidates” who have registered “are not legally eligible to run” for president. (Fars News Agency)