AFP reports: Around 60 percent of would-be candidates for Iran’s parliamentary vote in February including many reformists have been rejected by the authorities, official media reported Monday.

“Out of more than 12,000 registered candidates, 4,700 — or about 40 percent — were approved,” Siamak Rah-Peyk, a spokesman for the Central Elections Supervising Committee was quoted as saying by state television.

The committee is dependent on the Guardian Council, a panel of conservative clerics and jurists, to vet registered candidates and overseeing the elections.

Reformist parties have protested against the rejections.

“Out of over 3,000 reformist candidates across the country, only 30 have been approved — only one percent,” Hossein Marashi, an official from the reformist camp, was quoted as saying in the Shaugh daily. [Continue reading…]