Iranian Women Can Not Run For Presidency

A constitutional body in Iran has ruled that women can not run in presidential elections scheduled for Jane 14. Muhammad Yazdi, a clerical member of the Guardian Council, said the constitution ruled out participation of women. Thirty women registered as candidate but their is little expectation they would be allowed to stand. The Guardian Council is charged with vetting election candidates according to their islamic credentials. Observers say there is ambiguity in the constitution about the participation of women in presidential election in Iran. However, the latest interpretation appears to put end to the debate. The semi official Mehr news agency quoted Mr Yazdi as saying that "law does not approve" of a woman in the prersidency and woman on the ballot is not allowed. Women are allowed to stand to the Iranian parliament and have served as law makers. Incumbent president Mahmood Ahmadnijadi can not run for a third term under the constitution and a total of 686 people have registered to replace him. The final list of the candidate will be announced shortly, with only a handful of names expeted on the ballot. In the previous election of 2009, 475 hopefuls registered but the Guardian Council only gave approval for four names. The results of those elections were disputed by the opposition, triggering the mass street protests. Reformist candidates Mir Hussain Mousvi and Mehdi Kourbi were detained and remained under house arrest.