WHAT REVOLUTION?:

All Iranian Governors Threaten To Quit (IranNews, Jan 12, 2004)

All of Iran's provincial governors have reportedly threatened to resign unless a move by powerful conservatives to disqualify large numbers of candidates from forthcoming elections is reversed. The 27 have imposed a deadline of a week, according to an open letter carried by the student news agency ISNA today. Earlier, Iran's interior ministry, the body responsible for organising elections, said that the move to disqualify candidates from next month's parliamentary election was "illegal" and would not be enforced.

New power struggle erupts in Iran: Mr Khatami says he is trying to avert a crisis (BBC, 1/12/04)

About 60 Iranian MPs are staging a sit-in in parliament to protest over hundreds of reformist candidates being barred from next month's elections.

The MPs vowed to continue until the decisions, made by the conservative Guardian Council, were reversed.

President Mohammad Khatami said he did not think the Council's methods were democratic and said he would hold talks with its members to resolve the issue.

Up to half of the candidates registered have reportedly been disqualified.

They include Mr Khatami's brother, who is head of the country's largest reform party, the IIPF.

The 12-member Guardian Council, made up of six clerics and six Islamic lawyers, is empowered to ensure parliament's actions comply with Islamic principles.

But the decision has provoked outrage among reformers. MPs threatened to go further in their protest.

"We will continue our sit-in for as long as the decision is not reversed," said MP Ali Shakourirad, one of the barred candidates. "If the decision is not reversed we will take further steps in our protest action."

It may still take some time, but it's only a matter of time.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 11, 2004 10:47 PM