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Iranian Crisis Deepens As Elections Near
Iranâs hard-line Guardian Council on Sunday defended its disqualification of prospective candidates for next monthâs parliamentary elections, further deepening a political crisis.They canât back down, theyâre dead if they do. The Guardian Council, an Brilliant, Holmes, brilliant! ``The Guardian Council wonât back down at all,ââ Guardian Council spokesman Ebrahim Azizi told a press conference. ``Lawmakers whose speech or behavior suggest that they have had no loyalty Interesting line of attack. Cancelling the elections might make the whole country go poof. About 80 reformist lawmakers have been holding sit-in demonstrations for a week. They took their protest a step further Saturday by starting dawn-to-dusk fasts. Cheez, not another Ramadan! President Mohammad Khatami condemned the disqualifications and warned he might resign if they were not reversed. And the European Union and the United States said the elections would lose credibility unless the Guardian Councilâs decision was overturned. Iranâs 27 provincial governors have vowed to resign by Monday unless the disqualifications are reversed. That wonât be enough to start the revolution but it would be useful. Letâs see how many of the 27 have stones. Posted by: Steve White 2004-01-19 |
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