The next time someone like George Galloway or Andy Newman claims the Islamic Republic of Iran is an “imperfect democracy,” a “semi-democracy” or words to that effect, consider this report by Muhammad Sahimi at Tehran Bureau:
Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardian Council, which vets candidates for most elections, said that supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi will not be allowed to run for the Ninth Majles, the elections for which will be held in early 2012. He claimed that the February 14 demonstrations revealed that the “sedition” (the regime’s standard epithet for the Green Movement) is supported by Israel and the United States, and therefore anyone who did not condemn the protests and those who inspired them cannot run for office again.
