| An Iranian hardline watchdog body has banned a grandson of the countryÂ’s late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from running for parliament next month, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. The March 14 vote for parliament will test the popularity of the hardline President, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, who came to power vowing to share out oil wealth more fairly but failed to curb inflation. Hopefuls have to go through a vetting process by government executive committees and the conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which has stopped hundreds of reformist candidates in the past. Among many hopefuls barred from running in the election is Ali Eshraghi, a 39-year-old civil engineer who is also a grandson of Khomeini, founder of IranÂ’s 1979 Islamic revolution. |